The Bermuda Love Triangle
by dpluver
Summary: AU. Danny, Tucker, Sam & Paulina's plane crashes in the Bermuda Triangle, and Danny gets hurt. Why did only they survive? What happens on the deserted island? Everything fun under the sun...romance, loss, and exposed truths. DxS. Finished!
1. Knives

**I've been wanting to write a romance story for a long time, and I finally found the perfect idea! I hope you all enjoy it! Caution: lots of DannyxSam fluff in later chapters!**

"Is the day over yet?" Tucker moaned.

"We've got-" Danny looked at his watch. "-five hours and fifty six minutes to go."

Tucker let out an obnoxious sigh.

The two boys were washing dishes. Why; they didn't know, but this Bermuda Island Resort job wasn't what they had hoped for.

"Great Pay!" The brochure had said. In reality, they were barely scraping by on minimum wage.

"Fun Jobs!" It had promised. Actually, they were spending their precious summer days washing dishes and cleaning guests' rooms.

"Free Housing!" Yes, if you forget that they were paying rent on their decaying apartment by deductions from their salaries. They were so cleverly called "Employee Taxes and Expenses."

"Great for College Students!" This was the worst blow of all. This part _was _true: no girls around to distract the college boys. All they got to focus on was work, work, and more work.

Tucker had failed to notice that this was primarily a resort for retired seniors; living out their retirement in luxury.

Danny scrubbed the glass cup angrily. This was _the worst _ summer ever! Why did Tucker have to convince him that this was a good idea?

He looked out the window. In the distance, a quiet beach beckoned him. _Only five hours and fifty four minutes to go,_ Danny thought after looking at his watch for the twentieth time that day.

Just as he began to observe the beach again, a giant and colorful bird landed on the windowsill and squawked at him.

Danny leaped backwards- slipping on spilled water in the process- and launched the glass cup into the air. With a loud _ping!_ the glass shattered into pieces.

"FENTON!" A voice roared from the main kitchen.

_Three…two…one…_ Danny counted silently in his head. As soon as he reached one, the booming footsteps had made their way to the dishwashers and yanked Danny up by his shirt.

The brute strength of his supervisor alone was terrifying.

"Fenton!" She shouted while saliva flew into Danny's face. He grimaced. Whenever she got really mad, saliva flew like a rainstorm. "Do you have any idea what you just did?!"

Danny smiled slyly. "I dropped a cup that was worth more money than I'll make this entire summer?" He asked innocently.

The supervisor's eyes narrowed and her expression was murderous. "Fenton! This is not something to joke about! You are now excused from dish duty!"

Danny's face lit up. "Really? Then I'm glad you are finally seeing things my way. If you could please excuse me, I'll be at the bea-"

"-throwing out trash." She finished for him.

"What?!"

She smiled evilly, as though she thought she was winning this argument. "You heard me, Fenton. _Trash duty._"

She motioned to a pile in the corner of the room. Three loads of putrid trash bags met Danny's eyes. She smiled happily and began marching away.

"But it was the damn bird's fault!" Danny yelled, pointing to the windowsill. The bird was gone. Not that it mattered, since the supervisor didn't even glance back.

"No excuses Fenton! You could learn a thing or two from Foley, there! He knows what he's doing!"

Danny snickered as she left. "You know what you're doing?"

Tucker looked up from playing with the spoons and the forks. "Not a clue. You see, there's you and me," he said, motioning to the forks. "And those," he said, motioning to the spoons, "Are all the old folks here…the problem is…we're missing knives!"

Danny didn't get it. "Knives?"

"Girls! Girls, Danny! We're missing girls! Forks need knives!"

Danny rolled his eyes. "I think all this dishwashing is going to your head."

With that, Danny picked up two bags of trash and struggled out the door.

The sun beat down on him; he wasn't used to being outside very much this summer.

Just then, Danny heard giggling. Not old people giggling- _girls. College girls._

He looked towards the pool, which was several yards away. Lo and behold, a group of girls- who looked to be his age- were swimming in the crystal blue waters. _College girls in bikinis._

Danny pinched himself to make sure he wasn't dreaming. Sure enough, he was awake.

Dropping the bags, he darted into a palm tree grove to get a better view. It had been at least seven weeks since he'd seen girls under the age of forty.

Most of the girls were hovering around a dark-haired girl. She wore a pink and orange bikini and she had flawless skin…

"Oh Paulina! Are you sure Dash said that?"

The Latina nodded. "Yeah, he was going crazy until I told him!"

All the girls screamed in delight.

Danny rolled his eyes. _Gossip. Woo-hoo, this sure is fun to listen to._

The girls kept on talking until the girl named Paulina held up her hand and turned around.

"Why aren't you swimming Sam? Afraid that you'll melt? I know witches don't like water," the girl taunted her.

That's when Danny noticed her. A lonely girl, dressed in awfully gloomy colors, was sitting cross-legged by the pool, reading a book. Her hair was pure black; most was hidden under a black veil.

The girl named Sam looked up and glared at Paulina. Danny's heart froze as he saw her eyes. _Beautiful amethyst eyes…_her angry expression made her look even more attractive.

"For your information, Paulina, I can swim fine. Though I suppose only shallow girls like shallow water?" She asked, motioning to Paulina.

Paulina glared right back, but she had a slight air of uneasiness, as though Sam had hit her weak spot. Glancing nervously to her group of friends around her, she shot back, "I can so swim!"

Sam grinned evilly. "Oh really?"

Paulina took the cue and began swimming to the deep side of the pool. Danny noticed that she was a pretty awful swimmer…

"Hey."

Danny jumped.

**Yeah! Cliffie!! Woot! Remember: I REALLY appreciate reviews…..**


	2. So Long, Paradise

**I felt kinda bad for leaving you all hangin' on that first chapter…but, like most stories, this needed an introduction! Okay? Good. Now the interesting stuff can begin…more reviews are amazingly appreciated!**

Danny whirled around. "Tucker? Damn, you almost gave me a heart attack…"

Tucker wasn't listening. His eyes were facing the pool in front of them. "Dude…you hit the jackpot…"

Danny stared at his friend. "How'd you find me?"

"Well, let's see. Could it be the trail of garbage you left?" Tucker motioned to the trash trail behind them. "And, of course, I saw the girls in the pool. And where there are girls…Danny Fenton is nearby…"

Danny snickered. "You know me _way _too well."

The boys turned back to girl-gazing.

Paulina was back in her circle of friends, and the girl named Sam was back to reading. Tucker suddenly pinched Danny.

"Ouch!" Danny yelped. "What?"

Tucker shushed him and pointed to the girl in the center of the group. "She's hot. Which one do you like best?"

Danny shrugged. "I kinda like that girl," he said, pointing to the only girl out of the pool.

Tucker's eyes widened. "That freak? Come on Danny, you can do better than that..."

Danny glared at him, but didn't say anything. He turned his attention back to the lonely Goth. She was staring at the grove where the boys were hiding. Danny panicked.

"Tucker! That 'freak' knows were in here!" Danny whispered.

Danny tucked his head down, but right when he did so, his eyes made contact with her beautiful amethyst eyes. Her eyes instantly widened, and Danny knew he was in trouble.

But the girl didn't say anything. She continued watching the grove. Slowly and quietly, she got up and left her group. Danny saw her leave, but he didn't move. Neither did Tucker.

Sam got around to the grove and hoped to catch the mysterious spies. As soon as she thought she was close, she discovered nothing. Her expression remained indifferent, and she wandered back to her book.

Sam _was _lonely. Sure, she was star of her university's women's soccer team and had more money to her family name than most celebrities; yet, something was missing. Too much pampering had hurt her chances at a decent social life; not because she complied with the pampering and coddling, but because she rebelled against it.

She refused to go with the popular people's ideas, which usually meant rejection by boys. Why couldn't she meet someone who liked her for who she was? Someone _authentic_. Someone _real_.

Her parents would kill her for hanging around anyone like that. Why? Because only _poor, working people_ were authentic. They accepted life's challenges and dealt with them. If the Mansons had a crisis that money couldn't solve, they were doomed.

Sam continued to gaze towards the grove. No mysterious blue-eyed boy. She was sure it had been a boy…she could've sworn she heard his soft voice…

A wave of water hit her in the face; soaking her book in the process. The girls in the pool were splashing her.

_Oh come on! How immature are these girls?_ Sam thought in wonder.

Danny watched from a distance. Tucker had gotten dragged back to the kitchen, but he remained outside. The poor girl was getting angrier by the minute. Danny should have helped her…

Sam got up began to walk away, flipping all the girls off in the process.

Danny panicked. The girl was coming towards him again, and he wouldn't be able to pull off _that _again…

He spun around and ran; only to trip over the dumped trash bags in the process. Feeling dizzy, he sat up and looked up in horror. The goth girl was hovering over him.

"Are you okay?" She asked in an unusually light voice.

Keeping his head down, Danny avoided her stare. "Um, yeah, I'm fine…"

Before the girl could say anything more, he ran off in shame.

Sam bit back the tears. Why did guys always run away from her? So what if she was goth? Did that make her any less human?

Summer was over tomorrow, and she had longed for at least one summer romance…goth or not. She just wanted a special guy…

Danny reached the kitchen and slumped into a chair.

"I hope you're happy," Tucker mumbled. "All these damn dishes washed all by myself…"

Danny didn't bother yelling or glaring at his friend. His one chance to meet a girl here…gone.

Tomorrow, he would be going home, back to the land of unattractive girls who thought they were showgirls…the goth girl would become a distant memory…

* * *

Five hours later, Danny and Tucker were packing their duffel bags.

"I hate to say it, or maybe I'm glad to say it, but we're _finally _leaving this 'paradise.'"

Danny nodded in agreement. "I made just enough money to pay for airfare and one-fifth of this year's tuition."

"What time does our plane leave tomorrow?"

"According to the itinerary, 6:00pm," Danny replied tiredly.

While in the girls' rooms…

"Ugh, we're finally leaving," Paulina said disgustedly. "This place doesn't even offer decent room service!"

Sam rolled her eyes.

Paulina scowled. "How did I even get stuck with _you?_ I could have been with Star…much better soccer player," Paulina added under her breath.

"Gee, maybe because I'm the most experienced soccer player on the team, and you're the newest? Coach Teslaff said it was supposed to be a bonding experience. Not that I'd _ever _want to 'bond' with a self-absorbed, shallow, freak like you."

Paulina screamed. "Do you know what an awful person you are?"

Sam grinned. "Yes. I was truly hoping you would say that."

"I swear, Samantha Manson, I'd rather die than be on the same team as you."

Sam's eyes narrowed. "Be my guest," she said coldly.

Clearly offended, Paulina turned out the lights and laid down to sleep on her heated, therapeutic bed.

Sam turned on a small lamp.

Paulina looked over her shoulder. "Turn the damn thing off!"

"No way. I never fall asleep until at least 2:00am."

"Then what have you done the other twelve nights?"

"I went out for a walk."

"You are so frustrating Samantha Manson!"

"Don't call me Samantha!" Sam threw a cup of cold water at her.

Leaving Paulina to scream, Sam crept outside to enjoy the evening air. It had gotten quite stuffy in there…

She walked on the sand, watching the crashing waves sparkle in the moonlight. It was her favorite time of the twenty-four hour day. Ever since she was a young girl, she had always felt a mystical connection to the night. The feeling lingered on into her teen years; the night became her refuge; her peace.

There was no annoying Paulina here. No criticizing soccer teammates here. Just her and the sea. Or so she thought…

As she walked along a beach, Sam saw a faint glow. At first, she thought she was imagining it. She rubbed her eyes and saw the light more clearly. She crept closer and closer until she saw the light.

It was a boy…he turned and looked at her. _It was a boy with glowing green eyes…_

**Uhhh…that chapter was boring. Oh well. I can promise you that the next chapter will be better! More excitement and drama…and Paulina-ish-ness. Review please :)**


	3. Airport Issues

**Well…here we go. The good part is really starting and I'm loving this story more with every chapter! PS: You may hate me by the end of this chapter...;)**

Sam jerked up.

She couldn't remember where she was for a few moments…

_There was a boy…with the piercing green eyes…_

Sam realized it at once. She had been dreaming. Spending all this time outside was disrupting Sam's sleep. _At least we're finally going home today._

She glanced over at Paulina. She girl was sprawled out on her bed; and _still sleeping_. What nerve!

Sam guessed that she had slept for five hours or so, while Paulina had probably been sleeping for more than twice as long.

Without bothering to stay quiet, Sam leapt out of bed and strolled into the bathroom suite.

She stared into the mirror and grimaced.

Her hair was frazzled in all directions, and she had a slight sunburn on her pale face, so it looked like she was blushing.

This day was already looking crappy…

"Dude, wake up."

Tucker grabbed Danny's feet and pulled him out of bed.

"Hey!" Danny landed with a thud on the floor. He immediately turned and hit Tucker. "Stop that! I'm awake!"

"Well, you sure didn't seem like it. Anyways, we have to go and get our last paycheck."

Danny sniffed. "Might as well; though I doubt it'll make much of a difference."

The boys packed up and left the room. As they passed by the pool, they took one last longing glance at its crystal blue waters. The girls were probably still in bed or even home by now…just distant memories.

They continued on the jagged path that led to the resort lobby. At the counter was none other than Valerie, an African American girl whom the boys had grown fond of over the long summer.

She too, was working here for college money; she was also persuaded by the worker's brochure to come and work at the resort.

Initially, Tucker had thought that he found his first true love; only to find out that Valerie had a boyfriend back home. All flirting stopped there and the three became best friends instead.

"Hey Val, are you leaving today too?"

She shook her head. "Nope. I leave next Tuesday. Only six more days of _her_," she added, referring to their supervisor.

Danny chuckled. "Better you than us."

"Gee thanks. Anyways, here's your guys' last paycheck." She handed them two envelopes with their names in red ink on the front.

"You spelled 'Fenton' wrong." Danny's eyebrows rose. "Seriously Val, '_Ph_enton'? I thought you knew us by now…especially how to spell our names…"

Valerie shook her head. "I didn't write them. Mr. Thompson did."

Mr. Thompson was the eighty-something owner of the resort.

Danny was about to speak but Tucker interrupted him. "Dude, we get our checks, just be happy for that."

Danny rolled his eyes. Of course _Foley_ was spelled correctly; who was he to complain?

* * *

"Danny we're going to miss our flight!" Tucker was running with his two suitcases in front of Danny, who had volunteered to carry four suitcases.

"I'm coming! I'm coming! Just shut up and keep going!"

Tucker turned around, only to run straight into an airport security guard.

"Um…hello…_officer_…I, I mean _we_ were just getting to our gate…"

"Why are 'ya runnin'?" The old man barked. "Gotta bomb?"

They were now drawing a crowd. Tucker was getting more nervous by the second, and they were farther and farther away from being on time for their flight…

"Sir I swear! We _don't _have a bomb! Or weapons or anything dangerous!" Tucker was pleading to the man, who was getting more suspicious of Tucker with every plea.

He had called in back up, and now four officers were surrounding the two boys.

"Boys, we're going to have to take you back through security."

Danny and Tucker panicked. "But our plane leaves in fifteen minutes!"

"Not our problem," a younger officer grumbled. The four officers led the boys back to the security gates, where they had them do a full body scan.

They also opened up and examined all of their luggage until the officers were certain that there were no bombs or explosives inside.

"Alright boys, I suppose you're free to go. I guess you were just tryin' to get to your gate. But next time, don't sprint."

Tucker gave the man a murderous glare, but Danny pulled him away and they made their way to their gate; just as the gates were closing…

* * *

Danny and Tucker were sitting in their economy-sized seats in row twelve.

"I still can't believe we made it," Tucker said in disbelief.

"Neither can I. And look at these great seats! We're right behind first class!"

"I wonder if they'll let us have some of that chicken…" Tucker said hungrily as a flight attendant walked down the first class aisles with a tray of fancy chicken dinners.

"Oh, I don't eat meat."

Danny's head shot up. He'd heard that voice before…but where?

He looked towards the first class seats that were diagonally across from his and Tucker's seats. Sitting in row eleven was the girl with the amethyst eyes and her Latina 'friend.'

Danny also noticed the rest of the girls from the pool in the following seats. He'd been so rushed into his seat that he hadn't even noticed them…

The flight attendant from the first class had turned around and headed to the front of the plane once more.

Meanwhile, another attendant tossed Danny and Tucker their economy dinners.

Tucker opened his first and almost threw up. "What _is this_?"

"Corn and squash surprise. _With real beef_," she added temptingly.

Danny's eyes widened and he pushed his tray away. "I think I'll pass. Do you have beer?"

The lady gave him a weird look. "How old are ya kid? Fourteen? Fifteen?"

"Try twenty two," Danny replied, slightly annoyed.

"Do you have I.D.?"

Danny reached into his pocket where his wallet would have normally been located. It wasn't there.

He searched all of his pockets and bags, but came up unsuccessful. After a few choice swear words, he looked at the lady.

"Looks like I lost my wallet."

She gave him a "no-duh" look. "Kids are always asking for beer these days…then they tell me they 'lost their ID.'" She walked away laughing.

Danny turned around to face the front of the plane, only to see most of the girls in the first class section staring at him. All but the two girls in row eleven, seats A and B. the Latina girl was listening to music, and the other girl was watching a horror movie on the DVD player.

Danny's cheeks flushed with embarrassment; the girls finally turned around to mind their own business.

Tucker hadn't touched his food; a rare sight for Danny.

Slight turbulence had been building up in the last hour, but Danny hadn't thought anything of it. There was a storm outside, and he figured that was what was causing the bumps in the flight.

But as time wore on, the turbulence was increasing to an alarming level. The captain had made a few announcements to stay calm, but he hadn't given an announcement for a while.

Most of the passengers were asleep, but something was bothering Danny. Tucker was snoring soundly, and only the occasional flight attendant passed down the aisle.

Lightning flashed outside the windows, and the sound of the pelting rain was deafening. Danny tried to focus his mind elsewhere: specifically, the amethyst-eyed girl whom he had run away from the day before.

She was still watching her horror movie; she remained unbothered by the turbulence in the jet.

The Latina girl had fallen asleep, and Danny noticed her head fall on the shoulder of her dark 'friend.' Without taking her eyes off the DVD screen, the dark girl shoved the other girl's head off of her shoulder with one unsympathetic push.

It was calm and quiet; with the exception of the occasional boom of thunder and the engines' synchronized droning.

Danny felt his eyes drift towards sleep. He was nearly fast asleep when it happened…

**Reviews, as always, are golden :D**


	4. What Happened?

**Okay, okay…it wasn't **_**that**_** great of a cliffie, but a cliffie nonetheless. I guess I kinda forgot about the summary….so basically that cliffie was a "no-duh." Fortunately, I found yet another way to confuse my readers…Aside from that, I have a lot of free time lately (I'm sorta home schooled…it's more of an independent study program) so I've been updating more often than you guys are probably used to. Seriously, this is like, my fifth update in two days(if you count my other stories) Anyways, enjoy:)**

Danny watched as the dark girl got up from her seat and kicked her friend's carry-on bags aside. She was headed up the row; straight towards him.

He sat silently as he watched her go by…she didn't even notice he was there.

Danny sighed with relief as she passed by his seat. He didn't have the space to run away from her again…or the courage to, for that matter.

The turbulence had subsided for now, and he sat back and relaxed. Tucker's snores were getting quieter, and the plane's engine seemed to be fading away as Danny drifted into semi-consciousness.

He was exhausted, after all; this summer had been nothing but living hell for him. Cleaning, scrubbing, and feeding old people were definitely not ideas of fun in Danny's book.

He checked the map he had on the screen in front of him. He loved international flights solely because of the computerized flight maps.

The screen told him that it would be four hours until they reached their destination. He thought about watching a movie to keep himself awake, but he decided against it.

He was not only tired, but extremely hungry. He hadn't eaten since the bagel he ate for breakfast that morning; there had been no time for lunch and there was no way he could have possibly eaten the dinner without throwing up afterwards.

Even those tiny bags of airplane peanuts would have been great, but he hadn't seen a flight attendant in the last hour.

Tucker, on the other hand, had managed to eat and keep down the awful dinner. Danny couldn't even bear to watch his friend stomach the food.

His attention was diverted back to Valerie. He missed her already. He wished that she could have come home with them, but she was busy working off her final paycheck.

She always loved the rain. She loved Bermuda and she even enjoyed some of her job. Danny felt himself wishing that she didn't have a boyfriend back home. There may have been a chance…but, then again, Tucker liked her, too. Danny wanted his friend to be happy, and if Valerie didn't have a boyfriend, Danny would have given Tucker a chance at love…

Danny watched as the mysterious girl made her way back to her seat. Her friend had rested her arm unknowingly in her sleep: on the girl's seat.

With her usual uncaring attitude, the girl shoved the other girl onto her own seat again.

Danny guessed that these two girls weren't exactly "friends."

With nothing else to do, Danny decided to let his eyes wander back into sleep.

The turbulence had flared up again, but Danny really couldn't stay awake much longer…

All was silent. Nothing was moving or making a noise, and it had seemed as though time itself had stopped.

Danny's eyes opened instantly as he felt the plane…plummeting? Something wasn't right. Planes don't suddenly plummet…unless they're about to…

_Crash!_

The plane hit the ocean and Danny's instincts instantly took over. The water was frigid cold, and it was quickly filling the plane. Several people were jolted awake just in time to see the crash, but the impact knocked most of the unconscious…

Without even thinking, Danny grabbed Tucker's hand and ripped him out of his seatbelt. He ripped a few other people out of their seatbelts in hopes that they could make it out by themselves. The plane was nearly submerged by now…Danny couldn't hold his breath much longer…he needed to go…

He was going to leave the plane and perhaps come back for more people after Tucker was safe…until he saw her. The mysterious girl was unconscious- as were all of the passengers by now- from the abrupt impact of the crash.

If Danny didn't save her, she'd die. They'd all die, but Danny didn't want her to die... Danny quickly made his way to her and her friend- the plane was completely submerged by now- and he grabbed the two girls.

He pulled the four of them above the water, only to be hit with pelting rain. Danny had to think fast. There was nothing left for the three unconscious teens to float on, so Danny couldn't leave them. But, if he didn't leave them…the rest of the passengers would drown…

There was nothing nearby. No islands, shores, boats…nothing. Danny struggled under the weight of three extra people…

He plunged his head under the water. The plane had sank quickly and quietly; it was already twenty feet or more under the surface. No signs of life glimmered from the fallen jet. Danny made his decision.

With a heavy heart, he began his search for land so he could help at least three other people survive…

Within ten minutes, Danny located a dark and quiet island. It welcomed the weary boy and he made his way to the beach.

He was exhausted and angry with himself for deserting the rest of the passengers. No, he wasn't just angry; he was furious with himself: he had chosen his life over those in the plane who had more than likely drowned by now.

The only comfort he could find was the steady breathing of the three unconscious people beside him. At least he had managed to save them…

After quite some time, Danny felt something else: cold. He was dripping wet, and the rain was pelting him every second. If he wanted these people- and himself- to survive, he had to find a dry place to rest.

He picked up his colleagues and struggled to stand up. It had been hours since he had slept or eaten, but he continued his weary journey. He reached a palm grove and saw that it was mostly dry. The rain had stopped beating on him, so he dropped into the sand.

He assumed it was around midnight, but he didn't care. He couldn't sleep now, he needed to get his friend and the two girls awake; or at least semi-conscious.

There was nothing around him that would be of help to him; just weathered palm leaves and sand.

He couldn't wait much longer, though, or the four of them would go into shock. Even though they were in the Caribbean, the frigid water and freezing cold storm winds could do a lot of damage.

Danny had an idea. He piled several palm leaves in the middle of the group and within minutes he started a small fire.

Once the fire was glowing brightly, he went around the group.

He started with Tucker; after all, he was Danny's best friend. Danny shook him a little bit, but the boy wouldn't budge.

"Tucker, wake up." Danny whispered.

After several minutes of coercing, the African American's eyes opened weakly.

"Danny? Dude what happened?" He made no attempt to get up, and his voice was weak.

"Nothing, I was just making sure you're okay."

Relieved, Tucker fell back into his semi-conscious state.

Danny then walked over to the Latina. She had a peaceful look on her face, but her breathing was shallow.

He wasn't sure how to wake her up. He tried shaking her with her shoulders, but she remained asleep.

_At least she's breathing,_ Danny thought.

The Latina would be okay, so Danny walked over to the last person to survive the crash: the girl with the amethyst eyes.

Her eyelids were covering her beautiful eyes, and her mouth was formed in a straight line; neither frown nor smile.

He gently touched her shoulder and rubbed it lightly. After a minute, the girl's eyes opened slowly. She stared at Danny for a minute, then spoke.

"So you're the boy from the palm groves," she said quietly, not even asking about what had just happened. She, like Tucker, had a weak tone to her voice.

Danny nodded.

"I thought I saw those blue eyes before…" She tried to sit up, but Danny put his gentle hand on her shoulder. He knew she was too weak to sit up; she laid back down without protest.

"What happened?" She asked softly.

"Nothing happened. You're okay…just get some rest."

A small, grateful, smile crept up to her lips and she fell back asleep.

Danny- now assured that all three were safe from harm- wandered over to shore, where the waves were crashing in the light rain.

His stomach was screaming for food, but he managed to ignore it. He felt weary; it had been at least an hour since the crash, and his body had been running on adrenaline ever since the engine failed- or whatever caused the plane to go down.

He was still mad at himself for not going back to rescue the rest of the passengers.

He knew, deep down, that if he had left the Tucker and the girls above the water alone, they would have drowned. And the only way to save the others would be if he left those three alone. He couldn't win. At least he had managed to save three people; plus himself.

The only problem now was trying to get off the island alive.

**Awww….sad chapter :( I don't like making Danny sad…anyways, I decided to be nice and not leave you all a nasty cliffie this time. I'm now posting my awesome catch-phrase at the end of the chapter to all of my stories: "More reviews equal faster updates. Fewer reviews equal slower updates." Oh, and by the way, I've written up to chapter 7 in this story, so I have updates ready, it just depends on the reviewers! Thanks for readin'!**


	5. The Awakening and the Sunset

**Wow! Twelve reviews for the last chapter? You guys are amazing!!! And to thank all of my wonderful reviewers, I'm giving you this chapter early as a token of my gratitude. I'll put up the names of my loyal reviewers next chapter, too...**

Something was shining lightly; Danny could see it even through his closed eyelids. But he was just starting to fall into a deep sleep…

"Turn it off, Jazz!" He mumbled, thinking that Jazz had turned his bedroom lights on. The lights went off.

Something wasn't right, though. He wasn't on his bed…it was too…grainy? And what was that crashing noise?

Danny opened his eyes. Someone was hovering over him.

"Hello Angel," he said deliriously. The person laughed.

He shook his eyes and his vision became less blurred. He gasped. It was the girl with the amethyst eyes! Looking straight into his crystal blue eyes…

"Well, someone's tired this evening," the girl replied.

"Evening?"

Danny sat up and saw that he was a few feet away from the shore of a beach. But what was he doing on a beach?

The sun was setting; wait, it was dusk? Why wasn't he waking up at sunrise?

He turned around and faced the girl. Seeing her brought back all of the memories of the night before. The crash…the plane sinking…saving Tucker and the two girls…finding the island…

She stared at him. His clothes were soaking wet, and his wind-swept black hair was coated in sand.

Danny rubbed his eyes and once he got the sand out of them he noticed the girl's features for the first time. Dazzling black hair, a thin frame, and her gothic clothing…

"You fell asleep on the shores early this morning; right before high tide. I pulled you back so you wouldn't get dragged away."

Danny blushed. "Um…thanks."

"Seriously though, do you mind telling me _why_ we're on this beach? I can't remember a thing, except that I should have been waking up in my dorm this morning…"

Danny panicked. He hadn't figured out a response to this question, though there was no doubt in his mind that it was coming…

"The plane crashed." He blurted out- unable to find a recourse.

"What?! NO!"

"But…everyone survived! And…uh, they all made away, but uh…our life boat got lost in the storm, so we landed on this island."

Danny felt lightheaded. He was never good at lying and he was worried that the girl would catch him and find out the truth.

"Oh…" She didn't look mad or sad…or happy. Just neutral.

Danny breathed a sigh of relief, seeing as the girl didn't press him further. She seemed to…accept the truth, instead of denying it.

"My name's Sam. Sam Manson." She held out her hand.

"Danny. Danny Fenton."

"I like the name Danny."

Danny blushed. "I like yours, too."

The two giggled and blushed. Although he only knew her name, Danny wanted to kiss her; it was the perfect scene: a nice, cool evening on the shore of a tropical island's beach. Well, it _would have _been perfect if the earsplitting scream had been absent…

Danny and Sam jerked their heads away from each other and looked towards the direction of the scream. Within moments, the Latina girl was running out of the palm grove.

She was screaming and cursing madly. Sensing that the moment had ended, Danny and Sam got up and faced the girl.

"Where the _hell_ am I?! Where is my stuff?! Who are _you_?!" She screamed, pointing at Danny.

Danny looked scared, but Sam looked furious. "Okay, in order: you're on a deserted island somewhere in the Caribbean. Your stuff is somewhere floating out in the sea. And _he_ saved our lives last night."

The girl looked at Danny again, this time more thoroughly. Sam hated the way she looked at Danny; she had 'flirt' written all over her face.

"Hi," she said in a sickeningly sweet voice. "I'm Paulina Sanchez. Maybe you've heard of my father? He…"

"Danny probably doesn't give a crap what your father does, okay?"

Paulina pouted. "I'm just trying to make a proper introduction, _Samantha_."

Danny noticed Sam blush furiously. "Don't you _dare_…"

Paulina diverted her attention back to Danny. "What happened last night? It was all so blurry…I don't remember a thing!"

"Our plane…crashed."

Paulina let out a horrible cry. "My stuff! Star! My purse!"

"They're fine," Danny lied again. "Well, Star is anyways. He sure hoped that this Star was a person…

"Everyone made it off okay, so just shut up and quit whining!" Sam glanced at Danny for support.

He smiled weakly. "Right. Everyone is okay…"

"But _my stuff!_"

"Your precious Daddy can buy you new stuff!"

Paulina reddened, but stayed quiet.

Danny shook his head in amazement. How could these two polar-opposite girls be on the same soccer team? He noticed something out of the corner of his eyes and looked up.

"Tucker!"

Tucker was running down the beach towards Danny and the two bickering girls.

Danny was glad to see that his friend was okay.

"What happened?"

"Plane crashed." Danny had little trouble lying now that he had had so much practice.

He looked horrified, until Sam added, "But everyone got off okay. We just…ended up a little farther than we should have."

Danny nodded weakly, but sensed that Tucker was watching his every move; trying to determine if Danny was lying.

Danny looked up at the group. "Is anyone hungry? I haven't eaten in hours…"

"I'm starving, but let's wait until morning, okay?" Sam said, noticing the sky turn from pink to black. Although they had been pretty much asleep all day, it wouldn't hurt to get a few more hours of rest.

The next morning, all of them were up early; right at the sunrise, in fact. Danny felt extraordinarily weak from lack of food, but he knew that was about to change. They were trying to form a plan together, but Sam took charge.

"Okay. Let's split up. We don't know the island too well, but we'll search in pairs."

Danny smiled at Sam. "Great plan. One pair will go north, the other will go south."

"I'm going with Denny," Paulina piped up.

"It's _Danny_." Sam said defensively. "And who made you queen of the island? I don't think you should get to choose the pairs."

Paulina pouted. "Fine, if I can't go with Danny, then I'm not going."

Sam turned black with rage, but Danny got between the two girls.

"Sam, I'll go with her that way. You and Tucker go the other way."

Sam just glared at Paulina. "Let's go Tucker," she said, grabbed his wrist and dragging him in the opposite direction.

Paulina looked at Danny flirtatiously. "Well, now that we're alone…"

"Let's go find some food."

Paulina frowned, but followed him off.

After three hours of searching, Danny and Paulina were tired. They'd managed to come up with a few fruits; Danny, of course, carried them back to the east beach where the group had settled.

On the way back, Paulina clumsily tripped over a mossy rock.

"Agh!" She screamed, cried, and cussed; Danny simply rolled his eyes.

He bent down to help her, but saw something out of the corner of his eye. It was black, and although he only saw the shadow of it, he knew at once that it wasn't a good thing.

He instantly shoved Paulina out of harm's way and took the hit. Then he phased into blackness.

**Oooohhh. Evil cliffie. Cliffie-mania! Review if you want to know what happened…**


	6. Bloody Danny

**Woah…I haven't really checked on this story in a few days (iffy internet issues) and my eyes popped out when I saw _sixteen reviews_! You guys never fail to amaze me…here's chapter…six, I think…**

Paulina screamed. She had no clue what had struck Danny, but he was unconscious.

Luckily, whatever that thing was, it was gone now. But Danny's left arm and chest were covered in blood.

"Sam?! HELP! Danny got hurt!" Paulina screamed at the top of her lungs. She hoped that her voice would carry across the island, but she didn't know how far away she was from their beach settlement.

"Help! Anyone?! Please!"

She paused. She would have begun yelling again, but she heard a hustling in the brush around her. She filled with fear.

Sam jumped out of the brush, followed by a tired, less-athletic Tucker.

"What happened? What did this to him?!" Sam demanded.

Paulina broke down into sobs. "I don't know! We were just walking…I fell…he pushed me out of the way…" Paulina couldn't even talk anymore, she was crying so hard.

Sam ignored the girl and went over to Danny. Blood was everywhere, his position on the ground had caused the blood to dribble everywhere.

She immediately applied all the first aid she knew, but she couldn't get bandages around him unless he was up; but she didn't want to move him until he was conscious.

Paulina was sobbing, and Tucker was trying to console her, but with no avail.

"It's not my fault, I swear!" Paulina cried.

"Shut up Paulina! Just shut up!" Sam yelled at the girl.

She was working as quickly as she could, but without the some kind of bandaging, the blood kept flowing.

When she had done all that she possibly could, Sam then began trying to wake the injured boy up. She felt a little odd- she still barely knew this boy- but she needed to make sure he would be okay.

"Danny, wake up. _Please_ wake up. We need to get you better."

He remained unconscious. Sam sighed and remained by his side, determined to be there for him when he woke up.

After an hour or so, the bleeding had pretty much stopped on its own. Sam had been careful to make sure he didn't lose too much blood, though.

Tucker and Paulina had set out to find a place where they could live for a while; at least, until they could leave the island.

Sam could hardly believe that she had only known this boy for two days. It felt like a lifetime; she cared about him very much, after all, he had saved her life.

Now it was time to return the favor. The sky had turned to black again, and she waited by Danny's side.

It began raining an hour or two after dark. Sam had grown too tired to stay awake much longer, and had fallen asleep on a palm tree branch.

She awoke instantly when the rain began pelting her, but she wasn't worried about getting wet, she was worried for Danny getting pneumonia from the cold.

She spent two hours- in the dark- searching around for palm branches and building a makeshift hut for her and the still-unconscious Danny to stay dry in.

Tucker and Paulina weren't back yet, but Sam figured that they had settled down for the night somewhere else.

Sam had found a way to bandage Danny's wounds using pieces of her clothing. She had ripped off her leggings and socks to use as bandages for his left arm, while the bottom half of her shirt was ripped off and used as a bandage for his swollen left ankle.

Around sunrise, Sam noticed Danny's eyes flutter open.

"Danny, are you okay?" Sam asked in the calmest voice she could manage.

Danny groaned. "What happened?"

He tried to get up, only to fall down and worsen the pain.

"Agh! My arm…"

"You were attacked…by something. We couldn't figure out what it was though…it messed you up pretty badly, though."

"Yeah, no kidding. Where's Tucker? And that other girl?"

"They went to find a place where we could live for a while…you know, until we find a way off the island."

"Oh."

"Do you remember anything? What attacked you?"

Danny knew perfectly well, but he didn't tell her. "No idea. Whatever it was, it was pretty angry."

Sam nodded sympathetically.

She then silently set to work on cleaning Danny's left arm, using a piece of clothing as a rag.

The rainwater helped the process move faster, but Danny began to sweat from all the pain he was battling.

"Ah!"

Sam was nervously cleansing the wounds; Danny's yelps and screams were not helping to make it easier.

At last, Sam got down to the base of the wound. It had to be more than six inches long, and it looked awful.

She cringed, which, in turn, made Danny cringe. Both of them knew it was a bad injury.

Meanwhile, Tucker and Paulina had found the perfect place for the four of them to stay. It was a cave on the highest point of the island, and it provided shelter from the pounding rain.

"So, beautiful isn't it?" Tucker sat on the "porch" of the cave, which overlooked the Caribbean Sea. The rain was lightly spraying, and there was a rainbow over the east beach's bay.

Paulina sniffed. "If you call being trapped on a deserted island with crazy monsters that want to kill us beautiful, then yes. It's gorgeous."

Paulina's green shirt was ripped and tattered, and her denim capris were soaking wet. Her hair, however, remained flawlessly wavy.

Tucker made no other attempt to flirt with Paulina; he could see in her icy eyes that she was apparently frustrated with something.

"Do you know what hit Danny?" Tucker asked.

"How should I know? It disappeared before I could see it. Besides, I was so worried that Danny was hurt."

Tucker held back a laugh. This girl was impossible.

Back at Danny and Sam's palm hut, Sam was almost to the base of a wound on Danny's chest. It was dangerously close to his heart, so she had been extra careful to go slowly.

When at last she had made it to the base, she let out a small gasp.

**Another cliffie? My goodness, I must be some kind of cliffie-maniac! ;) Want to know what happens? Review away my friends:)**


	7. What's Going on Here?

**Wow! Eighteen reviews?!! You guys rock!**

"What is it?" Danny asked, fearing the worst. Sam was staring at him strangely, but immediately shook the expression away.

"It's nothing. You're just losing a lot of blood and I'm worried about you."

Sam wanted to take those words back immediately, seeing as they did nothing to comfort Danny whatsoever.

"I mean, of course you'll be fine, I just don't want you to get lightheaded or pass out again."

This seemed to calm the anxious boy down somewhat.

"Danny?"

Danny and Sam looked up. Tucker and Paulina walked through the doorway of the hut; both were soaking wet, and Paulina looked miserable.

She rushed over to Danny immediately; shoving Sam to the side in the process.

"Oh, Danny! I was _so_ worried about you! Are you okay?"

Danny grimaced. "I'm fine."

"Hey Sam, what's that?" Tucker asked, pointing to a rag in her hand.

"Oh it's just a piece of my shirt…I used to clean up Danny's blood," Sam immediately hid the rag behind a rock.

Sam had just met Danny and Tucker a couple days ago; it was strange talking with them as if they'd been friends forever. She was annoyed with Paulina for flirting so much with Danny, but she tried to ignore it.

"Does this hurt?" Paulina cooed, touching Danny's left arm.

"Ow! Yes!" Danny angrily swatted her hand away with his good arm.

Paulina sat back, a little hurt, but otherwise clueless about Danny's annoyance.

"Well, we found a place to stay," Tucker broke through the awkward silence.

"Really? That's great!"

"No, it's not." Tucker replied gravely. "It's like, three miles away. And how are we gonna get Danny there?"

"We'll carry him," Sam replied determinedly.

Danny looked shocked. "No way. There is _no way_ you guys are carrying me…I can walk…"

"He's right." Paulina said. "There's no way _I'm _carrying him. I'll break a nail."

Sam looked enraged. "Fine. Me and Tucker will carry him. We don't want poor little Princess Paulina to break a nail."

The boys snickered, but Paulina blushed a deep shade of red.

"Seriously guys, I can walk…"

"Oh really? On what leg? The one with the swollen ankle? Or the one with the bleeding knee?"

Tucker came over to help Sam, and Sam shoved Paulina aside. Paulina stood up and watched, but didn't even offer to help.

On the way up, Sam was holding Danny's left side, and Tucker held up his right side.

"This is humiliating," Danny sulked.

"It's for your own good. That palm hut was ready to collapse. This way, we'll have a nice place for you to rest and get better."

It was pouring down rain by now, and the sun was starting to set. They were determined to get to the cave before dark.

"Tucker, how much farther?"

Tucker grunted as he shifted his grip on Danny's back. "About a quarter of a mile."

Sam glanced back at Paulina. The girl was fiddling with one of her nails.

Sam rolled her eyes but stayed silent. She began to wonder what her parents thought happened to her. Did they worry about whether or not she was alive? Did they hear about the plane crash?

_More likely than not_.

If Sam knew anything about her parents it was that they worried; _a lot_. Heck, one time her mom had passed out at Sam's soccer game because the scores were tied.

Sam didn't care though. She hated the university, she hated the soccer team, and she hated her life. There was no desire to go back; no yet.

"We're here." Tucker announced. Paulina grabbed a palm leaf and threw it unceremoniously on the ground for Danny to lay on.

"Thank you so much for your help, Paulina. Your services are no longer needed," Sam said sarcastically.

Unfortunately, Paulina didn't read that as sarcasm, and she wandered out of the cave.

Sam and Tucker carefully laid Danny down on the ground.

His arm had began to scab over, but it was still a sickening sight.

"Thank God. That was humiliating," Danny said after they set him down.

"I'm going to go hang out with Paulina," Tucker announced. He left Danny and Sam in the cave, and went out into the rain.

"Are you okay?" Sam whispered to Danny.

"I'm okay. Just…sore."

Sam smiled. You'll feel better once everything scabs over."

Danny grimaced at the thought.

"The rain sure is beautiful," Sam murmured softly.

"Yeah…"

"I wonder what my parents are doing right now. They're probably worried. But I'm not. I don't want to go home. It's awful back home…"

"Why?"

"They buy me everything. It's like…I don't even have a voice! They just tell me what I'm supposed to do and how I'm supposed to do it. I hate soccer, but they make me play it. They're total control freaks."

"I'm sorry." Danny said with genuine concern.

"How's life for you?" Sam asked, trying to change the subject.

"Oh you know…well, I guess you wouldn't then. I have to pay for everything. Tuition, my car, my books…but I guess I'm okay. My parents let me do whatever I want."

"Lucky…" Sam breathed. "What do they do for a living?"

Danny panicked. He was hoping he wouldn't have to answer this question.

"They're…scientists. They study…uh...ectoranium."

"Oh. Cool…what's ect…"

"Really? What do your parents do?" Danny cut her off.

Sam rolled her eyes. "Ugh. They're lawyers. They want me to stay out of trouble, so they give me everything. But if I don't listen to them…then I can't go to college."

"Why not?"

"Duh. I'm broke!"

"But…"

"Why are we talking about our families? They don't matter right now."

Danny agreed. "Well, what can we talk about, then?"

"How did you get injured? And tell me the truth," Sam added.

"I already told you guys, I have no idea what it was," Danny replied smoothly.

Sam still looked skeptical, but she dropped the subject. The rain was beautiful and there was no need to argue…

Danny leaned over to Sam's face. Just a little closer…their lips met. For one glorious second, they kissed; but then Sam pulled away.

"I'm sorry."

"What's wrong?"

"I..."

**Omg. Another cliffie. I should get some kind of award for the evilest cliffie-writer. I guess most people would rather pound me with tomatoes than hand me an award, though…feel free too, however, I would be pissed about all these cliffies, too...sorry about the "Breakfast Club" moment...kinda reminded me of the Avatar episode: "The Beach." Many people hated that ep, but I loved it...anyways...**

**Yeah…lol, I know it sucks, but could you at least leave a review? **


	8. Separated Again

**Sorry for the long wait, I've been kinda busy lately D:**

"I can't. It's complicated.

"But..."

"Just don't say it, okay?"

"Why can't you tell me?"

"I barely know you! I've known you for maybe a couple days, and you're already trying to kiss me? You're like every other boy Danny Fenton! I thought you were different..."

"But..."

"No. I was wrong about you. Just leave me alone."

Danny was dumbfounded. What did he do to deserve that? They went from talking about their lives at home to almost-kissing to Sam exploding as though Danny had told her he hated her. What was with this girl?

"Sam...I'm sorry. I'm not that kind of guy, I just thought..."

"You thought wrong," Sam said unfeelingly.

Danny felt slightly hurt, after all, he had risked his own life to save hers, and this was his reward?

"Sam," Danny approached her lightly. "Shouldn't we be worrying about other things right now?"

"Like how to get off this island?"

Danny and Sam jumped at the sound of Tucker's voice behind them. Paulina followed close behind with a smug look on her face. She had heard _everything_.

Sam quickly wiped her eyes, and the upset expression changed to fury.

"Were you _spying on us_?"

"No! I was out trying to find something to eat…"

Sam figured Tucker was telling the truth, but Paulina's silence spoke for her.

"_You were_! Don't _ever_ do that again!" Sam roared, looking ready to murder Paulina.

"So, how _are _we going to get off this island, anyways?" Tucker quickly changed the subject. The boys didn't wish to see a huge fight between Paulina and Sam…

"I would say make a boat, but we don't know how far we are from any kind of civilization."

"But there has to be some other way…"

"Yeah. It's not like we can just fly right off the island," Sam joked, slightly calmer now.

Paulina continued her usual cool glare, and the boys laughed weakly.

"And besides, with Danny messed up right now, we're best to stay put for a while."

Everyone nodded in agreement; except Paulina.

"Well, I want _off_ this island as soon as possible. Daddy is probably so worried…"

"Paulina, just shut up about yourself, for like, five minutes, okay? All of our parents are probably worried!"

"Well, you all can stay here and starve to death, but I'm leaving at the first opportunity."

"Which is?"

"How should I know? When I see a ship or something…"

Sam rolled her eyes. "Fine! Leave on your stupid ship! We'd be a lot safer without you here anyways! It's _your _fault Danny got hurt in the first place! But _NO_! You didn't want to help! You don't even care if any of us gets hurt! And if we do, you won't bother to help because you might break a nail!"

Sam was breathing harder than someone would have if they had just completed the Boston Marathon. Her face was red with fury and it seemed as though the scowl on her face had become permanent.

"Sam." Sam whirled around to face the boys. They looked terrified, as though she was about to kill them.

"Sam, it's not Paulina's fault," Danny defended her cautiously. "I took the hit, so it's my fault I got hurt."

Danny backed off; noticing the murderous look on Sam's face.

Paulina scowled. "Whatever. I'm leaving."

She turned to leave the cave, but Tucker stopped her.

"You can't go! Where will you stay?"

"In another cave or something. Far away from _Miss BiPolar_!"

Danny fought the urge to agree with her.

"I'm coming with you."

Danny looked at his friend in disbelief. "Tucker! What about us?"

"Sorry dude. I gotta make sure she'll be okay." Tucker ran after Paulina, leaving Danny and Sam alone again.

Sam looked pale, but said nothing.

* * *

After several days, Sam was getting worried.

"They haven't gotten back yet…do you think they're okay?"

"I'm not sure…I…"

"I'm going to look for them."

"What?" Danny panicked. "Then I'm going with you."

"Danny, _no way_. You're supposed to rest."

"I've rested enough," Danny snapped. "I'm coming."

Sam shrugged. "Fine. But under one condition…"

**The next chapter I believe is my favorite one. I promise I'll update sooner next time! Be sure to tune in…**


	9. Just a Dream

**Okay, see? I kept my promise this time. Wasn't that a quick update:) Anyways, I'm more excited about my DP fics because there's a lot more DP fanfic readers than there are **_**Avatar**_** ones. But, if you like **_**Avatar**_**, I recommend my new story (under my "keylee" account here on called "Cold Fire." Anyways, though, I only got one review for the first chapter, which was really a shock, since most of my DP fics get at least ten or more for the first chapter…so, I've lost my writer's block (for now) and here's chapter nine…I think…read and review:)**

"You just _love _humiliating me, don't you?"

Sam grinned evilly as she jogged along the sandy beach. "Yep."

Even though Danny weighed more Sam, she had no problem giving him a piggy-back ride down to the beach.

"What's that?"

Sam looked up and saw several piles of debris scattered along the shore.

"It must have come from the crash," Sam whispered. It was an eerie sight; almost to the point where Sam wanted to try a different route…

"Agh!" Sam tripped over something embedded in the sand and fell to the ground; Danny fell off to the side.

"Oh my gosh, Danny, are you okay?"

Danny spit out the sand in his mouth and grinned. "I'm fine, but what'd you trip over?"

Sam walked over and yanked the object out of the sand. "A rock?"

"And people call me the klutz."

Sam glared at Danny and pretended to throw the rock at him. Over to the right, there was a huge piece of metal glinting in the sun; it was from the airplane.

"Hey, I know! Let's make a boat! That way we can go farther and find Tucker sooner!"

"_And_ Paulina," Danny added.

Sam just glared at him again. "Fine. _And Paulina_."

………………

………………

……………...

"Okay, ready? Hang on…" Sam gave their new "boat" a huge push and jumped on. Danny sat near the "sail," and watched as they rolled over a small wave.

"Nice," Danny said, grinning at Sam. Who knew this petite girl could be so strong?

"Okay, now…down to business. Where do you think Tucker…_and_ _Paulina_ could be?"

"Well, they should be somewhere around the north side of the island…"

"What if they left?"

Danny's eyes widened. "No. Tucker wouldn't do that."

Sam crossed her arms. "Well, I wouldn't put it past Paulina, but I doubt a ship has come by now, anyways."

"So, we have to go around the west shore- that's quicker, I think- and…"

"And just basically float here until we find them."

Danny sighed and lay on his back. The rain had stopped, and the sun came out, so Danny sat up and took off his shirt. Sam blushed, but after noticing the scar on his chest from his injury, she looked away.

"Looks like your wound is healing…sort of…"

Danny gave her an odd look. "Um…yeah, I guess…"

Sam stayed silent for the next hour. She was getting hungry; they hadn't eaten in hours. But that had to get around the island by dark. They didn't want to face life on the ocean in the dark…

Danny also had many things to think about: were they ever getting off this island? Did the university realize that he and Tucker were gone?

He still couldn't forgive himself for letting all those airplane passengers drown. He knew, deep down, that it was those three or none, but he still felt the guilt stabbing at him like a knife.

"Do you believe in ghosts, Danny?" Sam interrupted his thoughts.

"Wha…I uh…no. They're not real, I guess…do you?"

"I'm not sure. I mean, I _thought_ they were just a myth, but…I keep seeing this one…in a dream, of course. But it seems so _real_…"

"Like you said, you're only dreaming," Danny replied bluntly.

"Yeah, I guess I'm just going crazy," Sam joked. "I mean, nobody's ever seen a ghost, especially one with green eyes and white hair…"

Danny choked. "What?"

Sam looked at Danny strangely. "Nothing, just this 'thing' in my dreams has…"

"-green eyes and white hair," Danny finished for her, touching his own hair at the same time.

Sam looked concerned. "Danny? Are you okay?"

"Um…"

"Danny?! Sam?!"

They instantly jerked their heads around to the direction of the sound of the voice.

"_Paulina?_" They both said simultaneously. Sam paddled the boat to the shore as quickly as she could and helped Danny onto the shore.

"Thank goodness you're here!" Paulina gushed to Danny. Sam stepped in front of Danny and shielded him from the flirt.

"Where's Tucker?" Sam demanded.

"Tucker?" Paulina said, as though she had no idea what Sam was talking about. "Oh, _Tucker_…I don't know."

"You mean you lost him?!" Danny yelled as he pushed Sam out of the way.

"Well yeah," Paulina replied uncaringly. "I haven't seen him for days…"

**Hahahaha! Cliffie! AGAIN! Read and review:)**


	10. So Long, Drama Queen

**Slightly edited to improve readability and allow me to go a new direction with the plot (I don't fully remember what I was plotting for this four years ago). Enjoy~**

This was the last straw for Sam.

"You are the most infuriating person I've ever been forced to know! Do you even care about people more than your nails and perfect hair? What's wrong with you?"

Paulina bit her lip and turned to Danny with pleading eyes.

"Look, it's not my fault he got hurt and had to stay behind. You understand, don't you Danny?" Paulina asked him innocently.

He did not reply, however; instead, he glared at her icily.

Danny turned to Sam, looking determined. "I'm going to find Tucker. You stay here and keep her out of trouble."

"I'll come with you!" Paulina tried persuading him, but failed.

Danny swatted her hand away from his shoulder. "I wouldn't let you come with me, even if you held a gun to my head."

With that, Danny ran off into the island's grove of palm trees, leaving an irritated Sam standing next to a now-sobbing Paulina.

* * *

Several hours later, Paulina seemed to have forgotten Danny's angry outburst at her. She sat peacefully by the water's edge, subconsciously playing with the sand between her toes. She was quite distressed at the sight of a few chipped toenails, but at least the polish was mostly still intact.

Meanwhile, Sam had been busy building a shelter and gathering food; she wasn't sure she would share her acquisitions with Paulina or not. After all, if Paulina starved to death, that would mean one less mouth to feed and maybe there would finally be peace on this island.

"He still likes me, you know," Paulina said to nobody in particular, but loud enough for Sam to hear. "Of course, his anger at you distracts him from his feelings for me."

Sam threw the clumps of seaweed in her arms onto the ground angrily. She knew she shouldn't let this girl get to her, but it was impossible to let go. Paulina was acting like a thirteen year old trapped in a twenty-three year old's body. Her immature comments and utter disregard for anyone around her had to stop. Now.

Paulina continued. "I mean, if you would just leave us alone for once!"

"Leave you and Danny alone?" Sam yelled incredulously. "Look how well that turned out the one time I did! Why don't you leave all of us alone? You've been a total brat and exceedingly unhelpful everyday on this god-forsaken island! And what makes you think Danny even remotely likes or cares about you? He hates you! He told me himself!"

Paulina froze. Her head whipped around to face Sam; her expression was murderous, but she said nothing.

Then, without a word, she got up and walked over to Sam's makeshift boat that was buoyed a couple feet into the ocean. The water was a little chilly, but she continued forcing her way through the light waves until she was waist deep in the ocean, standing next to the boat. She promptly untied it and got on. It wobbled slightly at her rash mount, but managed to steady itself once she was sitting in the middle.

"What are you doing?" Sam roared. Danny and Tucker weren't back yet, but Paulina was leaving them?

"I won't stand for all of your insulting! If you want to stay and die with your dream boy and the other loser, then fine! I'm saving myself now!"

Paulina frantically began paddling away getting well out of range before Sam could decide to try and swim after her. Sam definitely considered it, but that boat was useless anyway and now she was enveloped in the peace she had been waiting for ever since she met Paulina. Perhaps her departure wasn't so bad, after all.

**Hope you guys liked it! Please review! :)**


	11. The Storm

**Juhu! I'm back to writing my BLT story. I've missed my DxS-centric story very much, so I will be finishing this in the coming weeks/months along with my other works-in-progress. Enjoy~**

Sam was just turning her attention back to starting a fire when she heard a scream in the distance. It was coming from a girl, and since there was only one other girl within at least a fifty mile radius, Sam's eyes darted to the disappearing boat. Paulina had to be more than a quarter mile away, and in the dark, it was difficult to see much more than her flailing arms.

Sam ran to the edge of the beach, trying to get a better glimpse. Then, it happened. The boat split in two and she vaguely saw Paulina crash into the water. The screams became more distinct now, and Sam found her legs propelling her to the edge of the water.

"_HELP!_" Paulina shrieked over the sound of thunder booming somewhere in the east and waves crashing all around her.

Sam hated the girl. Paulina was egotistical, insulting, and downright cruel. But Sam couldn't just let her drown if there was a chance of saving her. Acting on pure instinct, Sam charged into the water, swimming as fast as her limbs would allow her to.

So Paulina didn't know how to swim. Who knew? Unfortunately for Sam, this meant a lengthy rescue mission, one in which she wasn't sure if she would be able to save Paulina before she permanently became a part of the ocean. She was still a long ways off, and the screams were losing their intensity as Paulina kept slipping below the surface. The desperate, shrill screams were now becoming more muted; Paulina was fatiguing much faster than Sam had assumed she would.

"I'm coming!" Sam tried to shout over the waves, but the downpour of rain drowned out her words. There was a flash of lightning in the sky, and Sam used this brief millisecond of light to survey the waters in front of her. The split boat was still a hundred yards off or so and Paulina was nowhere to be found. The screams had stopped altogether, too.

Sam, despite her athleticism, was starting to feel both tired and somewhat numb with shock. Had Paulina really drowned? As much as the two couldn't stand each other, Sam felt awful that she hadn't been able to save a person's life in time. Pausing in the water, Sam could see that she was now closer to the dismantled boat than she was to shore. Swimming at top speed in rocky waves had exhausted her, and her chances of making it all the way back to the dark island were growing smaller by the second. Wave after wave came crashing down on her head, and finding the surface was becoming much more difficult as the storm above her raged on. It seemed that, every time she went to take in more air, another wave would just slam into her, forcing water down her lungs instead.

This completely disoriented Sam, and now she couldn't even see where she was. Was the island to the north or the south? The waves had been spinning her in different directions for several minutes now and she couldn't even make out the darkened outline of the island anymore.

_I'm going to drown_, Sam thought silently as another wave sent her a few feet below the surface. _Just like Paulina did._

"Help," she said weakly once she was above the surface again. It was the last attempt she had before her body would give up in sheer exhaustion and let the waves drag her under for good. Nobody was going to save her, though. Danny was somewhere on the island, looking for an injured Tucker, and supposedly Paulina's corpse was floating somewhere in the waters around her.

Sam's lungs took in another gulp of water and she closed her eyes, preparing for the end. Somehow, instant death in a plane crash would have been preferable to this slow, drawn-out death.

But even as she felt her soul slowly slipping away, she could barely make out a faint glow coming closer to her. Sam wondered if it was some sort of angel or a ship light that was coming to save her. She tried opening her eyes, but even this was almost too difficult for her to manage. Ignoring the salty seawater that was burning her eyes, she squinted at the light coming towards her. It was some glowing person. They were coming closer and closer, and by some crazy miracle, she suddenly felt herself being lifted out of the ocean and pulled into the sky.

Sam figured she was already dead and this was merely an angel or something that had come to retrieve her corpse. Only when her body was laid on wet sand a few moments later did she dare to believe that she was still living. Her lungs were taking in air now, and although her body ached all over, _she was alive_!

The last of her remaining energy was relegated to opening her eyes one last time. A few feet away from her, the faintly glowing figure fell to its hands and knees. Just as two bright rings appeared around the figure's body, Sam lost consciousness altogether.

**Let me know what you think! Reviews are a great way for me to see how I'm doing with a story and what areas need improvement or further details. Especially since this is one of my more serious stories, I definitely appreciate whatever feedback you have! Hope you liked it :) **


	12. The Ghost Boy

**Thanks for the comments on the last chapter. Got my Pottermore account a couple days ago, plus that silly nuisance called school has been getting in the way, but luckily this update didn't take me **_**too**_** long. Enjoy~**

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When Sam woke up the following morning, she was lying safely under a sheath of palm leaves. Judging by the soft sand that meshed in between her toes, the beach wasn't too far from here. She sat up and looked around, wondering if she was really alive or whether this was some strange form of purgatory. Nobody else was around, and her mind was still having immense difficulty in connecting the dots between her near-death experience the night before and how she had come to end up back on the beach before drowning altogether. Unless she had died without realising it?

Sam stood up and stumbled forward, through the clearing of the trees and onto the sprawling beach. There was a heavy mist in the air, but at least it wasn't raining anymore. She looked around her, desperate for some sign of human life, but there was nothing but swaying palms and crashing waves.

Suddenly, her eyes spotted something in the distance. Hovering a few feet above the water some quarter mile away was something distinctly black with flecks of glowing white in splotches around it. Sam ran closer to the edge of the water, trying to get a better view. From the shape and size of it, she thought it looked very much like a human.

The longer she stared, the more confident she became in her deduction. That glowing white mass above the pale blotch (a face?) had to be hair and it looked like it had two separate legs and two arms, both with white boots and gloves at their ends. It was moving erratically; sometimes dipping into the water, and other times coming up and hovering a few feet over the surface for a few seconds.

Sam knew it couldn't possibly be human. It was _floating_. Her mind wandered back to the possibility of this being her post-death life and she could very well be observing some sort of angel at the moment, but the sand at her feet and cool breeze against her cheeks were much too real to continue much longer with the post-death theory.

A few seconds later, the figure rotated in the air and faced her. Even from this great distance, Sam could see two vibrant green eyes flickering in her direction. She gasped as it started coming closer; was it _flying?_

She hustled back to the safety of the trees and tried to hide as the thing landed on the beach. Sam crouched down behind a large palm tree, watching it suspiciously. From here, she could see it much more clearly now. It was a boy, perhaps in young adulthood, maybe early twenties. His hair was whiter than a cloud on a good day, matching the boots and gloves that were attached to what looked like a black jumpsuit. Sam felt her eyes centering on the muscles rippling beneath the skin-tight suit; whoever this person was, it was clear that they definitely took pride in working out.

"Where'd you go?" the boy called out softly with a hint of wariness in his voice. Sam was surprised at how familiar that voice seemed but she couldn't put her finger on it. She remained behind the tree, watching silently. This person- was he even a person?- was clearly powerful, based on his physique alone. Not to mention his apparent ability to float in the air.

"Look, I'm not going to hurt you."

Sam was tempted to trust him. He sounded sincere, but his abnormal actions and appearance- even to a Goth, _glowing_ hair was something deserving of suspicion- told her to remain where she was. Or at least get a weapon to protect herself with before revealing her location. Spotting a sturdy-looking tree branch, Sam grabbed it and slowly made her way onto the beach, gripping the branch as though it were her lifeline.

Seeing the puny 'weapon' in her hand, the boy's eyebrows rose. Was that _amusement_ on his face?

"What do you want? Who are you?" Sam asked, coming a few steps closer but remaining far back enough to run for safety if he charged at her.

"I'm not going to hurt you," he repeated. "You can put the branch down."

"Why should I believe you?"

He smiled. "Well, by all means, attack me I guess. But the branch isn't going to do much for you."

Sam glowered at him. The slight mocking tone in his voice was infuriating. Just to show that she was serious, Sam threw the branch at him, though not hard enough to hurt him on contact. Much to her surprise, he didn't budge. The glowing figure merely pointed a finger at it and from the tip of his glove, a bright green light shot out, dissipating the entire thing on impact.

Alarmed, Sam spun on her heel and high-tailed it to the tree grove. _What was that?_ Did he have guns or weapons hidden in that suit?

"Okay, that wasn't the best idea," she heard his voice coming closer. Somehow, it didn't have a normal, human sound to it. It was more…_ghostly._

Sam leaped up from her hiding spot when he found her. She backtracked several paces before the boy held up his arms in surrender, trying to get her to stop.

"Can you stop running, please? I know what I just did was pretty stupid, but-"

"What _are_ you?" Sam demanded.

"Uhh, well…" the boy trailed off, looking nervously at the ground. "I guess you can call me a ghost."

Sam laughed mirthlessly. "_Of course_ you are. So what, does this mean I'm dead after all?"

The boy's green eyes met her amethyst ones once more. "Actually no. You're still alive. Which is more than what I can say for Pau-I mean, your friend."

Sam gasped and looked back out towards the ocean, not noticing the boy's cheeks reddening after a small slip of words.

"Paulina...so she's...?"

The boy looked solemn. "I tried to find her body. I saw you two drowning in the storm last night. But you were the only one I could find once I made it out that far."

Sam watched him carefully. So _this_ was the thing that saved her. Something that had just blasted her branch to bits with a ray of green light from his finger. A ghost. She wasn't sure if she believed him or if she was just hallucinating from all the water she had swallowed last night. Whatever it was, she was alive at least.

"Who are you?" she asked quietly. Her body relaxed a bit more, knowing that this person- ahem, _ghost_ didn't want her dead, but she still had no idea what to make of the situation.

The boy's cheeks turned slightly pink again, before he answered, "People back home call me Inviso-Bill or...uh, Danny Phantom."

"Danny Phantom?" Sam repeated, trying to think of where she'd heard that name before. Somewhere on the news? _Yes_, she decided, thinking back to some weird news reports she had heard a few weeks ago about some city called…

"Amity Park, right?"

The boy nodded instantly, surprised by the recognition. Sam's eyes narrowed. Was he telling the truth, or was he bluffing to catch her off guard?

"They have ghosts there?"

Danny Phantom laughed. "More than I can keep track of."

"I thought that town's ghost problem was just a publicity stunt to boost tourism."

The ghost boy grinned. "They're real, I assure you. And luckily some of us are actually willing to combat the problem for free instead of creating ghost tours to get a quick buck off of people scared of the likes of the Box Ghost."

Sam had absolutely no idea what he was talking about, but it was undoubtedly intriguing. Ghosts. Who knew?

"Well, _Danny Phantom_," she said, unsure as to whether she believed this was his real name or not. "If you _are_ a ghost, couldn't you just fly off of this island and get back to the mainland?"

He smiled sadly. "I wish. But I was injured a few days ago and can only stay up for so long."

Sam watched as he unconsciously held his side, clearly in great pain. Her eyes widened; that's exactly where Danny Fenton had gotten injured a few days ago!

"Danny!"

The ghost boy jumped at her sudden outburst. "What?"

"Not _you_. My friends, Danny and Tucker. They're somewhere on this island," her eyes darted between the trees leading into the deeper thicket. She wondered how far away her two friends were. "Could you help me find them? I think they're both injured and might need help!"

Danny Phantom's face was reddening again. Sam briefly wondered why he kept looking so flustered, but her concern for her friends outweighed her curiosity for his strange actions at the moment.

"S-sure," he stammered. "Where do you think they went?"

Sam looked to the beach and back into the jungle. "We can walk around the perimeter of the island then move inward from there. And promise no more surprises?" she asked cautiously, referring to the branch explosion.

Danny blinked. "Uh, sure. Yeah."

Sam was just about to begin her trek when the boy gasped and a blue mist escaped his mouth.

"What was that?" she asked, eyes narrowed.

"Probably bad news."

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**Thanks for reading. Reviews are adored more than this writer can put into words :)**


	13. Torn Between Two

**Thank you to all my lovely reviewers! I have 4-5 stories going on at the moment (plus lots of oneshots), but somehow I always find this story my personal favorite. I hope you continue to enjoy reading it as much as I have enjoyed writing it!**

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Sam gasped as an enormous green snake the size of a bus appeared through the trees behind them. Its body gave off the same glow as the ghost boy in front of her, and its fangs were as long as her legs. She screamed as it charged at them, looking ready to drown the two in its poison.

Danny didn't look scared, however. With the look of fierce determination coming over his face, he headed in the direction of the oncoming snake instead of escaping with Sam. She ran as fast as she could and climbed up a palm tree when she felt that she was a safe distance away. From here, she could observe the fight between the ghost and the snake. Was the snake a ghost too?

Her eyes widened as she watched Danny Phantom leap off of the ground and zoom through- literally _through!_- the trees, sending more of his green rays at its head. The snake roared angrily and tried crushing the ghost boy with its tail, but he was too fast for it and caught hold of the tail with both hands. The snake fought him with everything it had, and for a few moments, it seemed like Danny Phantom would lose. But the ghost boy had other ideas, and much to Sam's shock- or was she just hallucinating?- several duplicates of the white haired boy suddenly appeared. Every ounce of logic in her mind told her this was impossible, that exhaustion had finally taken its toll on her and she was now seeing multiples of a single form. But each of the Phantoms moved in their own separate manner, some punching, some firing green beams of light, and others distracting the snake by flying around the trees. If her mind was making this up, then this must be the most elaborate delusion ever.

After one particularly painful-sounding blow, the other Phantoms disappeared, leaving just one in the snake's path. The monster's eyes glowed a furious red, and it slithered to the injured ghost boy in his moment of distraction.

"No!"

Without thinking about what she was doing, Sam slid down the tree and grabbed a nearby rock the size of a baseball. She ran right up to the ghostly monstrosity and threw the rock at its head; this time, hoping to cause some damage to her target.

The snake had moved its head just in time, but its eyes caught sight of the rock sailing past its slit nostrils. Its head darted right to Sam, who was now rooted to the spot, terrified.

"Sam!" she heard the ghost boy yell as the snake lunged at her, and out of nowhere, she felt herself jerked off of the ground. After a cool, tingly sensation washed over her, she went _through_ a tree.

Her savior screamed as the snake sunk one of its fangs into his leg, but even while gravely injured, Danny Phantom did not back down. Ignoring the eruption of green ooze down his leg, he unleased the loudest and most frightening wail Sam had ever heard in her life. Several trees were uprooted and sent flying, along with the snake, which had been thoroughly unprepared for such an attack.

When the wailing stopped, Sam uncovered her ears and saw the boy collapse onto the ground. He breathed hard for a few seconds before forcing himself back onto his feet and over to where she was sitting. He walked with a very obvious limp, but didn't seem to notice. He weakly took hold of Sam's wrist and gently plucked her off of the ground, flying just a few yards away to the edge of the beach. There, he seemed to lose all power for flight, and collapsed onto the sand.

Sam ran to help him up, but he shook her away. A few minutes later, he took in a deep breath and, hands glowing blue, created what appeared to be an igloo-like structure on the beach. It was a strange sight indeed, but would provide sufficient cover for the two, as a storm appeared to be just on the horizon.

Only when it was complete did he accept Sam's help inside the small opening.

"What was that?" Sam asked quietly, examining the wounds. What was this green stuff coming out?

"Ghost snake," Danny said weakly, leaning against the icy edge of the structure.

Needing a tourniquet, Sam ripped the bottom half of what remained of her shirt off. Danny stared at her as she expertly tied the cloth around the wound. Her hands moved quickly but gently, and he almost didn't feel a thing. When she finished, she looked up and caught him staring. Blushing madly, Danny averted his gaze to the ceiling.

"What is this?" Sam asked, wiping off some of the green goo that she had gotten on her hands. Where had she seen this before…?

"Ectoplasm. Kind of like blood for ghosts."

Sam eyed him curiously. That was the second time this Danny Phantom fellow had saved her life. But why? He didn't even know her; why should he care?

"I think we're going to be here a while," Sam commented, hearing raindrops pounding against the roof of their enclosure. She noticed that she could see her own breath and shivered.

"Sorry I couldn't make a sandcastle instead," Danny joked. "It'd probably be warmer than this."

"How did you do this?" Sam asked, gesturing to the ice hut above them.

Danny shrugged. "One of the perks of being a ghost, I guess."

"So, _ghosts_. They _really_ do exist after all?"

"Yes."

"And they're not all spooky and yell weird things like 'Beware'?"

Danny laughed, much to Sam's surprise. "There's only one I know of that does that. But he's not a threat. There are some others I'd be more worried about, but nothing I can't handle."

"Obviously," Sam said sarcastically, nodding to Danny's leg. "When you picked me up…we went _through_ the trees. How did you do that?"

"It's called intangibility. Ghosts can fly through walls and stuff. Or trees, in our case."

Sam fell quiet for a few minutes, trying to process all of this new information. Everything she had ever been taught about ghosts was turning out to be one big lie. Where was the bed sheet and the "Oooooohhhh?" And, gazing back into the ghost boy's stunning green eyes, she had to wonder why she felt so…attracted to him. She was certain that an attraction to dead people wasn't healthy, but Danny Phantom felt different. So unique. So _human_.

"And ghosts are dead?" she asked, wanting absolute confirmation before declaring herself officially insane.

Danny bit his lip. Sam also noticed that he didn't answer immediately. That was intriguing. Finally, he said, "Yes. Though some ghosts are the imprints of those who were once living."

"What about you?" Sam asked quietly. Something about this person was off. She had a nagging sense that she knew him but that couldn't be possible! The last person to die that she knew personally was her grandmother, and that was three years ago. She studied his features, desperately seeking an answer, but her mind was simply not allowing her to connect the pieces of the puzzle. The feeling that she was missing something never departed, however.

"I…can't explain," Danny responded. "It's complicated."

Sam stared at the boy. She remembered a conversation with another boy that she had had not too long ago. A conversation where she had been the one telling the other that things were too complicated to explain. Somehow, none of that seemed to matter anymore. She was miles away from any sort of civilization, her only allies left were somewhere on this enormous island without any clue as to where she was, and the only one who seemed to care whether she lived or died at this point was the glowing boy sitting in front of her.

"It doesn't have to be complicated," she whispered. Her amethyst eyes locked onto his, and for a moment her entire body felt warm. Comforted, even. Here in this little ice cave, she could finally let go of whatever worries and fears she held of the outside world. Here, getting off of this island didn't seem like a major concern anymore. Here, she felt safe.

Spellbound, they leaned in closer. Sam's face grew frigid the closer his came to hers, but his sweet, warm breath was now close enough to expel the cold from her cheeks. Inexplicably, when she looked deeper into his brilliant green eyes, she found her thoughts wandering back to Danny Fenton. How he had looked at her with the same intensity, just with blue eyes instead of green.

Sam found herself freezing, and it wasn't because of the cold. Her breathing became shallow and she unwillingly discovered her eyes welling up with tears. The long, late night conversations she had had with Danny Fenton were coming back to haunt her, and her heart felt weak from two conflicting desires. One was expressed through the personification of passion that was sitting right in front of her in the form of a ghost boy.

The other was that of close friendship, in the form of Danny Fenton. She had known him for a short time, but the depths of the conversations they had shared, revealing nearly everything but the most private personal information…that couldn't be ignored.

Even when her heart was practically throwing her at Danny Phantom.

Their lips briefly touched. Sam wanted nothing more than to let it become more than a brief meeting, but she pulled away and turned her back to face him instead.

"What's wrong?" he asked in a muted voice. She could hear the pain behind his words.

Allowing a single tear to slip down her cheek, Sam whispered, "Someone else."

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**Reviews would be much appreciated and hopefully I'll update this soon :)**


	14. The Mysterious White Shirt

**Thanks for the reviews on last chapter, as always! Hope to start developing even more DxS from here on out! :) Enjoy~**

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Sam stared down at her sketches in the sand. She had been sitting out here ever since the sun came up, seeking solace from the frozen hut that had been her shelter the previous night. It was a misty morning, but still much warmer than in there. Not to mention less awkward.

After their almost intimate moment, Sam and the ghost boy didn't say another word to each other for the remainder of the night. Both of them pretended to go to sleep, but Sam knew they were both faking.

Only after the rain began to lighten up in the middle of the night did she feel her eyelids drooping and soon she had fallen into a deep sleep. She had been shivering for most of the night, even covering herself with sand at one point to see if it would warm her up. Nothing worked, but at least she had shelter from the animals and elements outside.

In the morning, however, she woke up to something peculiar. Draped over her shoulders was a tattered white shirt. There was a small hole in the chest area, and no tags to be found. It wasn't much, but it had stopped her shivering.

Sam pulled the mysterious white shirt away from her shoulders once more to examine it. There were nearly no clues to be found, except for a small fleck of what might have been blood near the collar. The hole in the chest looked too perfectly cut to be an accident, but this was hardly more intriguing than speculating as to where the shirt had come from in the first place.

Phantom wore a hazmat suit, taking him out of the equation. But nobody else could have possibly gotten through that entrance after he sealed it shut last night.

Sam was baffled, but grateful nonetheless. Yawning as she tugged the shirt closer to her body, she returned to her mindless sketching.

She was not an artist by any means, but this small twig was useful and the wet sand made for a great canvas substitute. There were four figures in the sand in front of her: one that appeared to be Tucker, with his glasses and curved facial features. Another was Danny Fenton, with his messy hair and skinny frame. Off to the side was Sam's rough self-sketch standing next to Danny Phantom…with his messy hair and skinny, yet muscular frame. Finally, in the "ocean" area, there was a tombstone with "P.S." inscribed under the word "Rest."

Sam was amused at how similar her sketches of the two Dannys were. Then she frowned. They were almost _too_ similar. But…there was no _way…_

Sam chuckled to herself. The exhaustion and dehydration must have been affecting her more than she thought. She picked herself up off of the ground and made her way back to their igloo-like home. The Phantom had still been asleep when she sneaked out this morning, and it was probably time to check on that leg wound to see if it needed rewrapping. At least she had a somewhat clean white shirt to use this time.

Much to Sam's surprise, however, the ghost boy was not inside.

"Phantom?" she called out uncertainly, hoping he wasn't off fighting some ghost and injuring himself more than he already was. She needed him to help her find Tucker and Danny. Otherwise, she might end up like…

_Stop it,_ she ordered herself. Thinking like that will never get her and her friends off of this island.

Exiting the icy enclosure, she wandered into the palm grove, looking for signs of life. Or, well, ghosts, to put it more accurately.

"Phantom?" she called out again. No response.

She continued her trek deeper and deeper into the jungle. If she went in far enough, maybe she would run into Danny! And Tucker, of course.

Suddenly, a flash of green light appeared not too far ahead from where she was walking. Knowing that had to belong to Danny Phantom, Sam picked up her pace.

"Phantom? Was that-"

Before she could finish, and enormous, glowing green lizard swiped at her. She was sent flying backwards before making contact with a palm tree. Having the wind completely knocked out of her wasn't exactly the best feeling in the world, and the sight of blood flowing down her right shoulder was even more discomforting.

Up ahead, she could vaguely discern Phantom's yells in between the blasts of that green light and the ghost lizard's roars. Sam tried getting up, hoping to help, but immediately fell back. Her vision was swimming and just the act of standing up straight was a challenge.

There was a loud explosion, and even through her closed eyes, Sam could see the flash of light. This was quickly followed by the lizard's roars, growing more and more distant until they faded away completely.

Within seconds of the lizard's defeat, Sam felt two strong arms picking her up off of the ground. A peek through her lidded eyes told her it was Danny Phantom. He smiled wearily down at her, and she even found herself smiling back. She was light, but with the ease in which the ghost boy carried her, one would think she weight less than a feather.

Her shoulder burned from the tiny debris that had made its way into her gaping wound, and Sam felt herself unconsciously hugging the boy more tightly, as if to will away the pain.

After a few minutes of walking, he set her down on some cool sand. They were back on the beach, but far from where they had made camp the night before. Sam winced as he gently pried her hand away from where she had been trying to staunch the wound. It burned tremendously, but a look into his understanding eyes had an immediate calming effect on her.

"Can I borrow this?" he asked quietly, holding the edge of the white shirt that was still hanging from her other shoulder.

Sam nodded. "I don't even know where it came from."

Sam looked at the boy's leg, where a tourniquet made of bits of her shirt had been the day before. It was no longer there.

"Your leg…it's-"

"Healed, yes," he replied, keeping his eyes focused on the task at hand. "Ghosts don't stay injured for long."

"Must be nice," Sam tried to laugh, but the sheer effort of laughing brought pain to her battered insides.

Finishing the wrap on her shoulder, the boy grinned at her. "When you're getting attacked by other ghosts everyday, you don't really have time to enjoy such a luxury."

Sam frowned. So why did he do it? Nobody told him to go fight those ghosts, and from what little she had heard of this boy and Amity Park on the news, he seemed to show up just as a ghost started attacking. Where did he go or what did he do when there weren't any ghosts to fight?

Uncomfortable with the silence, he laughed nervously. "So, I think there's a cave nearby. Maybe we can uh, start looking for Tucker around there."

"And Danny," Sam added, her eyes narrowing suspiciously.

"Of course!" he yelped, almost a little too quickly. "Tucker and Danny. Sorry I'm bad with remembering names."

"And yet you knew my name yesterday before I had even told you what it was."

Sam noted the redness of the boy's cheeks.

"Okay, I admit it. I was spying on you and your friends," he said, biting his lip and breaking off eye contact as he said it.

"_Spying on us?_" Sam said sharply. "Oh, just because you turn invisible, you think it's just perfectly acceptable to spy on whoever you want? And never offering us help until one of our friends actually _died?_"

"You three would have died with the rest of the plane passengers if it wasn't for me," the boy snapped bitterly.

Sam was completely taken aback by this. "Wait! Danny told me everyone survived-"

"Yeah, well, he lied," the ghost boy said, closing his eyes. The sheer amount of self-loathing radiating from the boy's facial expression was somewhat disturbing.

Sam stumbled back onto the sand, unable to truly grasp the devastating news. Everyone had died. Everyone. Her teammates, the air stewardesses, the pilots, the rest of the passengers…

"So why us?" Sam whispered after a long period of pure silence. The only sounds around them were the waves crashing on the beach and the occasional seagull flying overhead.

The utter helplessness behind the eyes of her powerful, ghostly savior was almost too much for Sam to bear.

"I had to make a choice," he said, breaking their gaze. "We should get moving."

Sam nodded numbly and followed behind him. They trekked over the jungle's undergrowth for what seemed like several hours before the ghost boy talked to her again. By then, the shock of the tragic news had numbed Sam from any emotion, and the boy had calmed down enough to resume normal conversation.

"The cave is just up that hill," he said, pointing to a dark rocky formation silhouetted against the setting sun. "Think you can make it?"

"Yes."

Sam wondered why a boy who could fly was walking for so long. During their trek through the jungle, she would notice times where it seemed like he was _floating_, rather than walking. But for the most part, he had been going by foot.

They reached the cave just as the sun disappeared over the horizon. The cool breeze was promising another chilly night, and now that the white shirt was being used as a bandage, Sam had nothing to protect her from the cold.

The ghost boy held up a ball of green light to guide their way into the cave. He didn't just stop walking once they had sufficient shelter over their heads, however. Sam followed him, being sure not to question his motives anymore after their small spat earlier that day.

Finally, they reached the main chamber. Just when Sam thought he was going to declare that they were safe to sleep here for the night, he said, "Oh great."

Sam looked at him, then following his gaze, looked towards the ceiling. There were bats. Thousands of them. But they weren't regular black bats. They were glowing green.

Sam's heart pounded as Danny's ball of light showed just how many bats they had sleeping above their heads. Every inch of this cavern chamber's ceiling was covered by snoozing bats.

Danny tried gesturing for her to remain quiet, but suddenly one of the bats opened its glowing red eyes and screeched at them. Danny and Sam froze as the rest of the bats started opening their eyes and glared down at the intruders. The echoes of screeches became deafening, but it wasn't until the horde of angry bats swooped down upon them did Danny and Sam start running.

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**No, Danny is not going to become Batman (though Christopher Nolan is my favorite director…). Reviews would be greatly appreciated, as I treasure each and every one :)**


	15. Noise in the Bushes

**Woohoo! So many awesome comments on the last chapter…thank you so much! Perfect motivation to keep me writing fanfiction even when I should be doing other, more important things in real life ;)**

**Enjoy~**

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Over the explosive shrieks of the bats right behind them, Sam could hear Danny trying to say something but his words were lost in the bats' cries. She was running as fast as her tired feet would carry her, but it just wasn't enough.

She looked to her right and caught Danny's eye. He was giving her a look that she couldn't quite read. Not watching where she was going, she suddenly tripped. Instead of falling, however, she was pulled upward and into the air. Now they were _really_ moving, faster than Sam could have imagined. The bats' shrieks were growing fainter as they neared the exit of the cave at what had to be several miles per hour.

Through the opening they went, and into the starlit sky. Sam gasped as she allowed herself to look down; they were hundreds of feet above the ground! How was it that Danny, who was only holding her wrist, could fly like this?

The cool evening air whipped at her cheeks, but the unbelievable thrill of flying squashed any unpleasant feelings. Not only were they flying, but Danny could actually control how fast and where they were going, unlike an airplane, where you're just along for the ride.

Danny looked over at Sam and grinned. His entire body was glowing, starkly contrasting the near-black sky around them. She responded with a blush, unable to speak at this high speed and uncertain she would be able to find words even if she could talk.

Danny blushed back, then craned his neck around to check for signs of the bats. They were hot on their heels.

"Do you trust me?" he hollered over the roar of the wind lashing at their ears.

"I think so," Sam answered back, hoping that he wasn't planning on dropping her from this high up.

Smirking, Danny changed course and swooped downward. Sam nearly screamed as they plummeted to the earth at top speed, but Danny apparently had it all under control. The bats tried to follow, but Danny was flying much too fast for them to possibly keep up. Just before they hit a palm tree- Sam had been shielding her face, preparing for the worst- Danny turned the two of them intangible. The same cool, light feeling washed over Sam as they plunged into the depths of the jungle, whizzing _through_ trees as though they weren't even there.

Sam couldn't help but blink every time it looked like she was going to hit a tree trunk dead-on, but somehow she remained intangible and unharmed.

At long last, Danny's flight path grew lower in altitude, until they were practically at ground level. Only when they reached the beach did he abruptly stop- defying all laws of physics- and set Sam back down on the sand.

She was panting, not from physical exertion, but from sheer adrenaline. Her mind kept replaying the past- oh, what was it, five minutes? Five hundred?- over and over in her head.

"That was…amazing," she finally managed to say several minutes later.

She ran over to him just as he nearly collapsed; the effort had clearly taken its toll on him. Having not fully recovered yet- even with the closed up wound- Danny could barely remain on his feet. Sam tried holding him up, in spite of his protests, and his unusual lightness made it easier to keep him upright.

Suddenly a blue ring appeared at his waist.

If Sam had blinked, she would have missed it, because it disappeared as swiftly as it had appeared.

"What was that?" she asked, startled by the strange sight. She knew she shouldn't have been surprised by anything concerning the ghost boy- who had, in the span of a few days, managed to disprove everything she thought she knew about physics and ghost legends- but the panicked expression on his face was unmistakeable.

"Nothing," he said almost too quickly. "That happens sometimes."

"Then what was it?" Sam pressed on as he backed away from her.

"It's nothing, I promise," Danny laughed nervously. "Just a little worn out."

Sam watched him suspiciously for a few seconds before deciding to drop the subject. It was probably just another weird ghost power or something. She was definitely going to keep her eyes open for the ring again, though. The ghost boy's reaction would be dismissed this time.

Sighing to herself, she sat on the beach and glared out at the open ocean. How long had they been trapped here? Days? Weeks? Months? She had no sense of time or direction here, though she knew her parents must have had the National Guard out looking for her by now. The thought of them worrying, a habit that usually annoyed Sam, actually made her feel a little sad and even guilty. It wasn't their faults that they were overprotective of her. She was their only child, after all. But then again, she was in college now and hated when they treated her like she was fourteen or something. Regardless of age, however, the fact remained that their beloved daughter was missing and undoubtedly they had received news about the crash by now. Would they think she was dead?

That thought alone sent chills down Sam's spine.

"You cold?"

Sam looked at the ghost boy, who was now sitting right next to her. Normally she would've demanded for more personal space, but right now, she almost found that she liked the closeness.

"I don't suppose you have fire powers too?" Sam asked, amused.

Danny shook his head and grinned. "No. Haven't noticed any hints of them since I got these powers, anyway."

Sam stared at him. "Since you got them? Haven't you always been a ghost?"

Danny's cheeks reddened. "Um, well…I don't…not exactly. Hey, why don't we start looking for your friends again?"

"Why are you changing the subject?" Sam countered, just as Danny had risen to his feet and started walking into the palm grove.

He paused and observed her quietly for a few moments. Finally, he sighed and said, "Okay fine. I haven't always been a ghost. Happy?"

"How did you become one?"

"Accident, okay? I don't really like talking about it."

Sam pressed her lips together, forcing herself to have enough self-control to avoid asking any more questions. It was so difficult though! This boy was so mysterious and she felt like she was missing something whenever she looked at him for too long, which frankly, she had been doing far too often as of late.

Sensing that the interrogating session was over, Danny turned back around and began navigating the jungle, with Sam right behind him. It was quite dark outside, but his bodily glow was enough light to give the two a sense of where they were going.

"What's it like?" Sam asked after several minutes of silent hiking. "Being a ghost?"

Danny stopped and fell onto his back for rest, levitating a few inches off of the ground. Instead of responding negatively this time, he smiled up at her.

"It's definitely a change from being a human. Intangibility comes in handy for a lot of things, and flying is probably the coolest thing ever."

Sam nodded vigorously in agreement.

"But…with the cool powers…well, it's just a lot of…responsibility, I guess. Like having to protect my hometown, er- _Amity Park_-"

"-so you lived there before you…well, you know?"

Danny winced slightly but continued. "Yes. It's a target for ghost attacks, and it's sort of my job to stop them."

"But why? From what I've heard, most ghosts attack humans, but a ghost fighting off other ghosts? Why?"

Danny stared quizzically at her. She seemed to catch on much more quickly than most people. Even his parents, after all these years, had yet to come this close. Then again, they could very well be in denial with the overwhelming evidence in support of it, but still…

"I just…want to, I guess. I don't think it's fair for ghosts to harm humans when they don't have the usual ghost powers or means of protecting themselves in case of an attack. I really hate seeing the powerful hurting the powerless. So I guess I'm there to level the playing field."

"That's deep," Sam commented. "So you're like a superhero or something?"

Danny landed softly on the ground and shrugged. "It's my job. Not much glory, to be perfectly honest. But I'm fine with that as long as they just let me do my job and don't interfere by shooting me-"

"They _shoot_ at you?" Sam exclaimed. "But you're saving their lives!"

Danny chuckled. "Irony's cruel, isn't it?"

"Seems like you need to move somewhere else."

He shook his head immediately. "Amity Park is my home. Or it was," he added sadly, thinking about how they were still trapped on this isolated island. While he knew he could possibly fly Sam and Tucker for a few hours, eventually he would run out of power and then they would be stuck in the middle of the ocean, with no food, no fresh water, and no land to rest upon. Escaping was going to prove a challenge. Plus, they had to find Tucker first. Oh, and Danny _Fenton_, as far as Sam was concerned…

Suddenly, they heard a rustling in the bushes.

Sam jumped at the unexpected movement and somehow found herself hugging the glowing boy for safety. After all, what reason was there to be scared when you had a friend that could fly and turn invisible?

Danny raised a glowing green ball of ecto energy for added light, but they still couldn't tell what had caused the noise. Was it another ghost? Or were there savage animals on this island too?

Both of them tensed up, preparing for an attack. Determined to protect Sam, Danny threw the ecto-ball in the direction of where the rustling had come from. It blasted straight through the bushes and nailed its target, knocking it to the ground.

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**Reviews are like candy, except I can't get cavities from them (yeah, lame pre-Halloween joke). But seriously, they are most definitely appreciated :)**


	16. To Trust or Not to Trust

**Because of the overwhelming response on the previous chapter, I opted to write this chapter instead of studying for my philosophy exam that's in 20 minutes. I hope my sacrifice was worth it xD**

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Hearing a yelp coming from the downed figure, Sam sprang into action. Had she not been so certain as to whom that voice belonged to, she might have been more cautious, but in this instance, instincts overruled common sense.

Sure enough, laying on his side in a fetal position just a few strides away was Tucker. He was moaning in pain and a wispy layer of smoke was still floating above his body where he had been struck by Danny Phantom's ghost ray. There was no open wound, but the area where he had been hit was blistering red.

"Tucker!"

The boy nearly jumped three feet off of the ground at the sound of someone yelling his name, but relaxed when he saw it was Sam.

"Hi Sam," he said weakly as she tried to help him to his feet. He was covered in scrapes and cuts, and his left eye was nearly swollen shut. His glasses were nowhere to be seen.

"Are you okay?" Sam asked, her voice full of concern. She knew the ghost boy probably hadn't expecting to hit a human, but that blast looked like it _hurt_.

"I've seen better days," Tucker replied sourly, rubbing his shoulder where the remnants of the mild burns were now cooling. "It's good to see you guys, though."

Sam gave him a quick hug then looked over his shoulder. Her eyes scanned the cluster of trees for a few seconds before her neutral expression turned into a worried frown.

"Where's Danny?"

Tucker stared at her, trying to think of an excuse, but failing to decide on anything believable. Sam was rather intelligent, plus, wouldn't she have known by now…?

"Uhh, well, you see...he was just..."

"Right here!"

Sam gasped as Danny Fenton stumbled through the palm grove. He looked tired and was limping slightly, but was still in much better shape than Tucker. Apparently he had lost his shirt during his treks around the island, as he was only wearing his tattered, though wearable pair of jeans. After spending days with a guy that covered it all up with a glowing hazmat suit, his bare chest was a welcomed sight for her.

Hoping Tucker could remain upright without her help, Sam sprinted over to Danny and threw her arms around him. He was so startled by this that he nearly fell over, but with the help of a nearby palm tree, he just managed to maintain his balance.

"Wow," he chuckled as he hugged her back. "What was that for?"

Sam pulled back and blushed as her amethyst eyes met his blue. Oh, how she had missed him. She had missed Tucker too, of course, but Danny was special to her in more ways than just an accidental friendship.

"I just...I haven't seen you in so long. I was worried about you," she said softly before adding, "And Tucker."

Strangely, Danny was giving her an amused look. She couldn't quite decipher what that meant, but right now, the only thing that mattered was that her human friends were still alive! She turned back to Tucker, who was glaring at Danny. Behind Sam's back, Danny gave him a sheepish shrug.

"How have you guys been doing? Are you okay?"

"Oh sure, I've been great," Tucker said sardonically. "Just getting eaten alive by mosquitoes and mauled by killer fish, running from snakes and sleeping in the rain. Yep, I've been doing fantastic on my own!"

"We got separated for a little while," Danny quickly interjected, noticing Sam's quizzical expression. He back turned to Tucker with the same, guilty expression on his face. "But I'm uh, glad you're mostly okay."

"Yeah, no thanks to you," Tucker said irritably, massaging his shoulder once more.

"You two should stick with us from now on," Sam said. She tried to stop Tucker from scratching the burn area, but he was being quite stubborn.

"Us?"

Sam grinned. "You'll never believe this guy I met-"

She trailed off as she looked back to the area where she had been sitting with the ghost boy just before Tucker and Danny had shown up. He was gone.

"Invisible friend, huh?" Tucker asked, smirking at Danny.

Sam barely noticed their hijinks. They had been friends for longer than she could possibly imagine; trying to crack their little inside jokes would be a total waste of time. Plus, she now had this frustrating conundrum to deal with: why would Danny Phantom just leave her like that? He said he was going to try helping them! Now he just _ditched her?_

"He was just here!"

"I don't see anyone," Tucker said innocently.

Sam glared daggers at him. "He was the one who shot you. Didn't you see the green light?"

Tucker looked skeptical. "No. And if I had, I probably would have gotten out of the way."

Irritated with her flaky ghost comrade, Sam charged into the palm groves, determined to find him.

"I _know_ you're invisible right now," Sam growled under her breath. She kept her ears pricked for any sounds of him floating somewhere, probably taunting her lowly humanness, but the only thing she heard were the footsteps of her friends running up to join her.

"What're you doing?" Tucker inquired. Neither he nor Danny were helping her look for whomever she wanted to find so desperately, though both of them knew precisely what was going on.

"Forget it. You guys wouldn't believe me if I told you."

"We might," Danny said encouragingly, though nervousness was etched all over his face.

Sam sighed, unable to let those blue eyes down. "Do you guys believe in ghosts?"

"Well that depends if you're talking about-"

Danny elbowed Tucker in the ribs and responded, "Perhaps. Why? Did you see one?"

Sam gazed coolly into both of their faces. Tucker wore an expression of pain from when Danny elbowed him for no apparent reason, while Danny's smile held too much innocence to be possibly be genuine. Something was up with these two, and after she found out where Danny Phantom had gone off to, Sam would demand to know what it was.

"I met one," Sam said edgily. "He saved me when I swam out to try and to rescue Paulina from drowning."

"She drowned?" Tucker fell to his knees and let out a devastated cry. Sam was startled by this reaction, but what shocked her even more was the lack of surprise on Danny's face. Until he noticed her staring at him, that is.

"She's gone?" Danny asked a few seconds too late, his voice laced with feign horror. Sam wasn't buying that for a second, but having no other explanations, she continued, "Yes. And I think I was pretty close myself, but then this...this _ghost_ brought me back to the beach."

"And you're sure you didn't just imagine it?" Danny asked quietly. Even over Tucker's muffled panic attack, Sam heard his words perfectly. She stared stonily into his cool blue eyes, suddenly realizing how little she trusted him. Danny and Tucker were hiding something from her, she was sure of it now. And with Danny trying to convince her that she was crazy and had probably just imagined the ghost boy...this only cemented her feelings of distrust for the two of them.

"I _know_ he was real." Sam said icily, returning his gaze.

Instead of glaring back, his expression softened into one of hurt and pain. None of her internal rationalizing could explain a potential reason for this, and at this point, she was too weary to even care. So many secrets, so many questions, and yet so few answers. She needed to get off of this island and away from these boys before she lost her mind.

"You okay?" Danny asked her out of the blue.

"Sure, I'm _fine_," she snapped. "But I _know_ you're hiding something from me, and right now, I'm really just sick and tired of trusting people, only to have them disappear or return and spew more lies at me."

"Sam-"

"Don't '_Sam_' me!"

Sick of hearing these two fight, Tucker suddenly stood up in between them and looked at Danny. "Dude...why don't you just tell her?"

Dismayed by this, Sam stumbled backwards, determined to put some distance between herself and her so-called "trusted friends." She was _right_. They _had_ been hiding something from her!

"Tell me what?"

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**Off to fail my Logic exam (oh irony, you are so cruel). Condolences in the form of reviews would be nice ;D**


	17. On the Brink

**You asked for a longer chapter…well, here you go. Longest one in this entire story so far! Having lots of fun writing it, I hope you all enjoy the latest installment :)**

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"That..." Danny trailed off, fearing the angry expression on Sam's face but not quite comfortable enough to give in just yet, "Remember when I told you my parents are scientists?"

Sam's eyes narrowed. "Yes. So?"

"And that they study ectoranium?"

"What does that have to do with anything?"

Danny sighed. "Ectoranium is a unique ghost element that has created some of the most dangerous substances known to humankind. Including, as you said, _ghosts_."

"So your parents study...ghosts?"

Danny nodded silently. Tucker was giving his friend a strange look, but Sam ignored the other boy for now.

"So how exactly is this a big secret?" Sam snapped before adding, "Wait, so you knew ghosts existed all along? Why were you trying to convince me that I was crazy?"

"Because that's what happens when people realize ghosts are real," Danny said bitterly. "My parents are nuts, and so is everyone else in my hometown. Sometimes I think it would be better if we could still pretend they're just myths."

Sam didn't look too convinced, but at least she seemed to be calming down. She still had a lot of questions, but at least the walls Danny had built up around himself appeared to be wearing down.

"Danny Phantom. That's what he called himself," she said quietly. "I don't know where he went, but he's somewhere on this island. Along with several other monsters."

"There are other ghosts here too?" Tucker asked in a constrained voice. "But we don't have a ther-"

Sam didn't see Danny stomping on his friend's toe however, she _did_ take notice of the growing intensity of raindrops pelting down on them. Thunder boomed overhead, much louder than it had any of the other days they had been trapped on this island. There was a big storm coming that night, and they needed to find shelter, quickly.

"We'll talk later," Sam shouted over the thunder and cracks of lighting.

Danny nodded and the trio joined hands, determined not to be separated again as they sprinted through the sparse tree grove in search of shelter. Not that it would matter much, as they were all soaked to the bone by now. Luckily they were too focused on the objective at hand to notice just how badly they were shivering, and even though their bodies were beaten and bruised—particularly Tucker's—they continued onward to ensure their survival.

Judging from the pace at which they were running, Danny was by far the weakest, so much so that Sam switched places with him so Tucker could help her drag him along. He initially protested this, hating to feel like a burden to his friends, but his legs simply could not keep up even a moderate pace after a while, forcing him to give in to their demands to let them help him.

"Go left, there's a rock we can hide under until the storm passes through," Tucker yelled to Sam.

With a fierce look of determination, she veered to the left, per Tucker's instructions. It was only a few more minutes until they reached the rock Tucker had been talking about. It wasn't big, but it was enough to completely shelter the three of them from the relentless rain.

Sam and Tucker were nearly out of breath as they pulled their friend under cover, and once the adrenaline rush wore off, they finally comprehended just how cold they really were.

Danny was shaking the most; the extra exertion had reopened the wound on his leg, and blood was now pouring onto the muddy ground. On the bright side, the fiery, unbearable stinging sensation that ran up and down his leg warmed the rest of his body, at least temporarily.

To prevent any further blood loss, Sam removed the white shirt that had been covering her own injury and ripped off the cleanest section. She wrapped the battered cloth around his leg and pulled him closer to the inner edges of the boulder for safety.

This was just one of many injuries she had seen occur during their stay on the island thus far. They were running out of clean cloths to serve as tourniquets, and with the amount of injuries and blood loss seen from the members of the group, Sam wasn't sure how much longer they would last out here.

Not to mention the severe dehydration and starvation. Sam had been surviving on a small tote of edible plant leaves she had collected, but it was a poor diet and she was running out. Her stomach ached with hunger each day, as it could not continue to sustain her body much longer without the necessary nutrients and substantive comestibles it needed to function properly.

From the looks of them, Danny and Tucker had barely been eating as well. Their facial features seemed gaunter, and Sam could readily count every one of Danny's ribs. For someone who was injured so terribly, it would be hard for his body to heal its wounds naturally without a better diet.

But what choice did they have? They were living off of leaves—Tucker claimed to have found a few edible bugs, but neither Danny nor Sam would take part in a buffet of insects—and the rain was their only source of 'fresh' water. It was a dangerous way to live, especially since the region had just been on the verge of entering its dry season the last time they left civilization. How much longer they would be able to rely on rainwater for sustenance was anyone's guess, but the fact remained that their situation was dire.

To try solving for this, Sam woke up early the next morning and ventured away from their shelter to find some food. Danny and Tucker were still fast asleep, and it was cloudy but rainless outside, making these the perfect conditions for Sam to scavenge for something—_anything_—that they could eat. She was so sick of the pangs in her stomach that she was almost ready to violate her own values and eat an animal. Never before had hunger been a problem for a Manson, but these were different circumstances. Sam couldn't just call up her butler on the intercom and ask for an ice cream sundae with bat sprinkles or walk down to the local ultra-recyclo vegetarian eatery and order her favorite tofu sandwich.

No, on this island, she was on her own, and so far, her body was not responding well to a diet of barely-edible plants.

After a fifteen minute hike through the trees, Sam came upon a lone bush with several bright red berries growing from it. Every part of her being told her it was a trap; that she should just continue walking past it. After all, she had seen enough movies to know the clichéd 'poisonous berry' trap that showed up every single time the hungry protagonist found a berries patch.

But they looked delicious.

And there was no way of telling whether these were _really_ toxic fruits, right? If she passed on these berries and they truly were harmless, then she would probably suffer a long, painful death through means of starvation. But if she took the berries and ate them, there was a chance that they could keep her and her friends going for a few more days. And if not, then hopefully a death by food poisoning would be quicker and less painful than one through starvation.

It took her five minutes to denude the entire bush of its berries. Sam thought it was strange that there was only one variety of this plant amidst everything else in the proximity. A lone shrub. An outcast.

The good news was that she and her friends would now have their biggest meal in days, even if that only meant about fifteen berries each. Figuring it was a start, Sam jogged back to their headquarters. Hopefully the boys would be awake by now.

**oOoOoOo**

Danny had a massive headache when he woke up that morning. Part of it had been caused by the dull pain from the injuries he had accumulated and part of it was probably caused by the rock he had been using as a pillow.

It wasn't raining anymore, but what little comfort he had gained from the change in weather immediately disappeared when he noticed who was missing.

"Tuck, wake up," Danny shoved his snoring friend onto his side. Tucker jolted awake, hitting his head on the low rocky overhang in the process.

"That's the second time you've hurt me," Tucker accused him as he held his forehead in agony.

"Sorry, okay? We have a bigger problem right now. Sam's gone."

"She probably just went for a walk. I saw her leave this morning."

"I don't know," Danny said uncertainly. "Shouldn't she be back by now? What if a ghost captured her?"

"We would have heard a scream. I'm sure she's fine," Tucker said, sitting upright. "Though speaking of Sam, nice save there yesterday."

"Yeah, no thanks to you," Danny said irritably, scratching the horrendously annoying stubble that had sprouted from his chin from countless days of not shaving.

Tucker shrugged. "I don't get why you bother hiding it from her. You've clearly spent enough time with her to know she's not going to do anything stupid if she finds out."

"I know," Danny said glumly. His eyes flickered to the tree groves beyond the entrance to their crammed shelter. Was Sam safe?

"Then what's left to hide?"

"I've never actually _told _anyone, Tuck. Vlad beat me in our first fight and saw me change back, Jazz just found out on her own, and you were there in the first place. Every time, it's been on accident. And what would I say anyway? 'Hey Sam, by the way, I'm that ghost you've been talking about'? She'll know I've been lying to her."

"_Have _you actually lied about it?"

"Not really," Danny admitted. "But she thinks we're two different people. And now she's mad at my ghost half for supposedly ditching her. If she finds out, she'll never talk to me again."

"I doubt that," Tucker grinned. "Then she'd only have me to talk to, and I know she doesn't like me as much as she does _you_."

"What do you mean?"

"I'd answer that, but I see breakfast coming this way," Tucker said as drool dribbled down the edges of his lips.

Danny turned his head to face the trees once more and saw—to his immense relief—Sam emerging from the shadows, holding a pile of what appeared to be red berries in her hands.

"Where'd you find those?" Tucker exclaimed, jumping to his feet and running over to Sam.

She effortlessly brushed him aside and continued to fight off all attempts to get at the berries as she came over to their temporary shelter and sat down besides Danny.

"We each have a limit," Sam said firmly. "We have to be fair about how much each of us gets, since that was the only berries bush I could find."

After dividing the pile into three even sections, Tucker ate his entire share in one sitting, while Danny and Sam preserved half of theirs for later on in the day.

The majority of their morning was spent scavenging the area for most food, as their supply was dangerously low. Danny offered to gather some fish, and urged Sam to go with Tucker into the jungle area to find more berries or leaves.

"I know killing fish isn't exactly you're thing, so it'd be better for you to help Tucker," was Danny's explanation for Sam to go with the other boy instead.

"But how are you going to catch anything? We don't have nets or hooks or anything."

Danny smiled serenely. "I have my own methods. Let's meet up back at the rock when the sun starts to set."

Sam reluctantly agreed, though she had to admit she was suspicious of the look Danny had been giving her. She still wasn't entirely sure that Tucker had been referring to Danny's parents the previous day, though it helped that Danny had actually answered a few of her questions after spilling the beans about his parents' true profession.

Once Sam and Tucker disappeared into the grove, Danny vanished.

In a way, this felt like cheating, as the fish didn't stand a chance against an invisible fisherman. But his need to feed himself and his friends—maybe they would be able to convince Sam to just _try_ the fish later, as she desperately needed protein—outweighed his sympathy for the unsuspecting fish.

He caught about ten little buggers in the span of two hours. It was a slow going, as he had to prevent saltwater from entering the wound on the upper part of his leg. He had a few close calls earlier that day with sand getting near the opening, and he _never_ wanted to feel the sting of sand spilling into his open flesh ever again.

After a few hours, the sun was finally going down over the western horizon, and Danny figured twenty two fish would be enough for them that night. He returned to his visible form just as he exited the surf and began gathering the fish into a pile.

Sam and Tucker eagerly waved to him as he made his way back up the beach, his arms full of slimy, foul-smelling fish.

Just as he neared their base camp, Sam shouted, "Danny, look out!"

Danny didn't have enough time to react as something slammed into the back of his head. He stumbled forward and fell to his knees, flinging the fish everywhere.

Tucker and Sam raced down the beach to help him at once. Tucker pulled him to his feet, while Sam walked past them to pick up whatever had clobbered Danny.

"What the heck is this?" Sam asked in anxious voice.

The boys turned around to face her and gasped when they saw what was in her hands.

It was a small metal boomerang with a beeping green light.

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***insert dundunduuuunnnn music***

**Not much else to say except that reviews are appreciated and I'll update as soon as I can :)**


	18. Last Strings of Hope

**Thank you for the reviews on the previous chapter! We're in the final stretch of the story, but the following chapters will be some of my favorite. Please forgive any formatting errors, as my formatting tab on FFnet has disappeared entirely. Hmmmm. Enjoy! :D **

"What is he doing?" Sam asked Tucker as they watched their raven-haired friend sprinting up and down the beach, his eyes searching the sky.

"I think he's looking for whoever threw this," Tucker said, examining the boomerang. It had finally stopped beeping once Sam had given back it to Danny, but the boys had yet to explain its significance to her. She had no idea how a something could possibly appear out of nowhere and manage to strike its target dead-on. It was no ordinary boomerang, that much was clear.

Adding to Sam's confusion was the faded pink drawing—from a lipstick tube perhaps?—of an eye and the letters "SS" inscribed underneath. Danny seemed to have some sort of clue as to what was going on, but he didn't clarify for either Sam nor Tucker.

With gloomy skies lurking overhead, Sam tried suggesting that they head for a bigger shelter, but Danny would hear none of it.

"We need to stay on the beach," he said adamantly. "Help is coming."

"How do you know?" Sam threw up her hands in exasperation. "We haven't seen or heard anyone in days. Weeks, even. There's nobody around for miles!"

"Then where did the boomerang come from, huh?"

Sam stared at him quizzically. Why was Danny putting so much emphasis on the "boo" part of boomerang?

"I don't know, maybe the sky is falling," she snapped back.

They had nearly frozen to death under their rocky overhang the last night once the area started flooding; she wasn't going to let them risk their lives again. Not with another storm on the way.

"I'm telling you, this thing means someone is near-"

"-Well _I'm _telling you that we need to find shelter, and fast," Sam cut him off. "There's an actual cave not too far from here-"

"Yeah, too bad it's infested with bats."

Sam didn't offer an immediate response to that one. "Wait. How do you know there are bats in there?"

"Uh," Danny backpedalled. "I tried going in there at one point and had to leave when I saw ghost bats. Why? Did you uh, venture in there too?"

"Yes," Sam said quietly, thinking of Danny Phantom. Despite the danger they had been in at the time, flying away from the cave had been her favorite memory of the ghost boy. And as mad as she was at him for ditching her, she still felt a stab of concern for him. Was he safe? Unharmed, at least?

If he was just as trapped as they were on this island, wouldn't he want to find a way back to the mainland if Danny was right about help being on the way?

Then again, Sam wondered if Danny was delirious from the lack of fresh water. While they probably thought the same of her whenever she mentioned the ghost boy, she at least wasn't promising a rescue any time soon. Perhaps this was the last thread of hope Danny was clinging to before giving up entirely. If that was the case, then Sam wasn't about to shoot that down, but she also wanted to be realistic. For all they knew, the boomerang could be a random scrap of metal from a far-off ship and the symbols inscribed on the side could be meaningless.

She sincerely hoped her friend wouldn't be too crushed when it turned out to be just another false hope.

"Danny," she said, more softly this time as she rested her hand on his shoulder. He flinched at her touch, but quickly relaxed. She applied light pressure on his shoulders, urging him to sit down. He reluctantly did so, but only when she started to lower herself to the ground as well.

For quite some time, they sat on the beach, side by side, saying nothing. The waves licked their toes, but the tide was decreasing so neither of them worried about getting soaked. They both stared out at the seemingly endless sea, both wondering the same thing: _will someone ever come to save us?_

Danny sighed and stretched, allowing his hands to fall on either side of his body. While his right hand met nothing but dampened sand, his left hand inadvertently landed on Sam's. He darted a furtive glance at her; she was pretending not to have noticed, but there was still the faintest glow of red in her cheeks.

Figuring he didn't have much time left to be concerning himself with proper social etiquette, Danny left his hand there. If help really wasn't coming after all, then this was how he fancied himself leaving this world: sitting on a tranquil beach with a girl he liked much more than a friend. As soon as he began sensing his impending demise, he promised himself that he would use his final breaths to tell her the two biggest secrets he had been hiding from her.

Hopefully it would be quick and painless, unlike the accident that had, in a sense, already killed half of him.

His stomach still moaned for sustenance and his tongue begged for watery mercy, but it was easy to ignore these pains when he was around Sam. Seeing the slightest hint of a smile playing at her lips, Danny hoped she felt the same way.

The peace and quiet had apparently lasted too long, as everything came crashing down when they heard Tucker screaming for help in the tree groves.

Jumping to their feet, Danny and Sam didn't need to think twice about going in after their friend. They hadn't even noticed him leave in the first place, but wherever he was now, at least he was within earshot.

When the jungle became too dense for the two of them to continue onward together, Danny whispered for Sam to go left and they would meet up at the source of Tucker's cries of agony.

"But-"

"Trust me, Sam. We won't be apart for too long this time," Danny said, giving her a confident smile. "I promise."

Sam frowned in return and darted the opposite direction, per Danny's plan. She sprinted over dead clumps of undergrowth and fallen palm trees, never stopping until she heard another, slightly-familiar yell just a few yards away. It was already quite dark, making it nearly impossible to see where she was going. Every few feet, she would trip over a vine or into a sandy burrow. She had no idea how her body even had enough energy to continue forward. Little sleep. Little food. No water.

Only the thought of Tucker suffering somewhere kept her legs moving.

Tucker had stopped screaming some time ago, however, making it harder for Sam to sense which direction he might be in. She strained her ears for any sound of him, a ghost, or Danny, for that matter. For once, all was silent.

And it was absolutely terrifying.

Pushing her way through several more overhanging palm branches and spider webs, Sam suddenly found herself on the opposite side of the island where she and Danny had just been sitting. She knew this because the sand texture was different on the north face, and the water was bluer here. How long had she been running?

Sam had little time to contemplate this as she saw a flickering light at the water's edge some hundred yards away. Her eyes were well-adjusted to the darkness by now, but even so, she was having difficulty discerning the source of the light.

She crept closer, wondering if it was the ever-elusive Danny Phantom. After all, his skin glowed and he had those green ghost rays, right?

As Sam came within twenty feet, however, she began realizing this wasn't a person or ghost, but an entire machine of some sort. It was parked harmlessly at the water's edge, but it had been weeks since Sam had seen anything from civilization. Even then, she couldn't recall having ever seen something as strange as this contraption in her life.

Much of it was encased in smooth silver metal, but there were visible marks of green adding a splash of artistry to the futuristic thing.

Walking right up to it, Sam lightly brushed her hands against the glass bubble-like area at what she was assumed the front of the thing. While the cockpit was mostly dark inside, there was a dashboard of several glowing buttons and a green, holographic screen. Everything looked quite complex, like a commercial-grade airplane.

Behind the dashboard of blinking buttons, there was a row of seats. In front of that, an advanced steering wheel of some sort.

Part of her wondered if she was dreaming or hallucinating, but this seemed much too real to be a mere concoction of her occasionally overimaginative mind.

Was it an alien spacecraft?

A high-tech, all-terrain submarine?

A giant hunk of metal that her tired mind was trying to convince her was something much more magnificent?

Without warning, there was a creak of metal coming from the left side of the grounded UFO. Sam jumped and retreated to a relatively hidden spot on the other side of the thing to observe whatever or whoever would come out. Her nails dug into her skin and she nearly bit through her lip as she prepared for the worst.

As the figure came into view, Sam saw that it was a human girl. She had long red hair and wore a black shirt over blue pants.

This was the first outsider Sam had seen in weeks.

She was so relieved that she wanted for the first time in her life to jump for joy. The common sense side of her told her to remain put, but the other side was urging her to go and meet her rescuer.

Torn between the two options, Sam stumbled slightly as she prevented herself from proceeding forward a second too late. There was a subtle thud as she grabbed onto the metal ship for support, and unfortunately, this didn't go unnoticed by the other girl.

She whipped around at once to face the noise. Her face may have looked friendly, but the massive gun in her hands, which, even amongst the shadows, Sam could see that it had the letter 'F' emblazoned on the side, was far from friendly.

And it was pointed directly at Sam's head.

**If you think MY cliffhangers are bad, try watching "The Walking Dead" (my new fave show on TV!). That has the worst cliffies ever. Until next time, reviews are greatly appreciated :) **


	19. Reunited

**Sorry about the wait! Thank you for your comments on the previous chapter! I had a ridiculously long (and miserable) weekend, but knowing that people enjoy this story made me even more excited to get back into the groove of writing. Enjoy~**

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"Don't shoot!"

Sam threw her hands up in the air just as she noticed the girl's finger twitch on the trigger of the gun.

"Who are you? Why are you here? Are you alone? How long were you spying on me?"

The girl had managed to say that all in one breath. Sam was impressed.

"Uh," Sam stuttered, going slightly cross-eyed as she tried to keep the tip of the gun in her line of vision. "Can you put the gun down first?"

The girl's eyes narrowed. "Answer my questions and I might consider it."

"Okay," Sam said slowly. "My name is Sam. I was stranded on this little strip of hell when my plane crashed in the ocean."

Curiously, the girl's expression of fury and mistrust softened to one of concern and budding realization at Sam's words. The gun was yet to be withdrawn, however, so Sam continued, "I'm not alone, but I don't know where the others are currently. And I've only been here for a few minutes."

The girl relaxed somewhat, but held fast to her weapon. She appeared to be in deep thought and did not speak for a long time.

Irritated, Sam spat, "Could you put the gun down now? I answered your damn questions, so-"

"Why should I believe you?" the girl fired back, refocusing her weapon on Sam's forehead.

Sam let out a cry of exasperation. Here she was, confronting one of the first outsiders she had encountered in who knows how long, and instead of being her amazing rescuer, they were threatening to shoot her. It could have been a hallucination for all she knew. Whatever hope she had been clinging to for so long was finally fading away completely.

"Fine, go ahead and shoot, for all I care. It's not like the sallow skin, bones poking out from every angle and dozens of scars and bruises mean anything, after all," she snapped. "Go on, blow my brains out, if it'll make you feel safer. I'm obviously a huge threat in this condition!"

The girl regarded her carefully for a moment. Her nose scrunched up a little, as though displeased by Sam's appearance or words, but Sam wasn't fazed by this. She had been trapped here for much too long for her to care whether she made it out of here alive anymore. The slow onset of malnutrition and starvation were taking their tolls on her, sluggishly draining the vitality out of her with each passing day. Soon, there would be nothing left and Sam hoped she would pass away painlessly in her sleep. Or, the girl in front of her could just hurry up and shoot her already. Either way, she was done waiting for someone to save her and her friends. Fatigue, fear, thirst, and hunger were a deadly combination, and the only escape at this point seemed to be walking into Death's welcoming embrace. No more pain, no more suffering. At the moment, this appealed greatly to Sam.

Much to her shock, the girl lowered her weapon.

"Hungry?" was all she asked.

Sam nodded numbly in response. The redhead gestured for Sam to follow her into the strange traveling machine. At first, Sam was a bit hesitant to enter, but the smell of grilled cheese was too enticing to ignore.

Once inside, the girl motioned for Sam to take a seat, as she pulled a plate of warm cheese sandwiches out of a small microwave. Sam's heart sped up at the sight and smell of fresh, melted cheddar in between two thin slices of sourdough in front of her. It took quite a lot of patience not to stuff the entire thing in her mouth in one bite. Instead, she managed slow, normal-sized bites in spite of her stomach crying out for more, more, more.

"My name's Jazz," the girl offered after a few minutes of quietly observing Sam eating her first real meal in days.

"Well," Sam said in between bites, "Thanks Jazz."

She smiled softly before sitting down with a more serious expression on her face.

"Sam," she started, avoiding the goth girl's gaze. "I know about the crash."

Sam nearly spit out all of her food in response. "You do?" she hurriedly gulped the remainder of the crust down then turned back to Jazz. She had a million questions for the girl, but she would have to pace herself.

"When was it?" Sam asked in a most tentative manner. Part of her longed to know just how long she had been stuck here, while the other part of her secretly dreaded knowing the truth.

Jazz's calm, understanding eyes met Sam's. "What day did your plane depart?"

"The twelfth of August."

Jazz cringed and pointed at a nearby computer screen. It listed the time and the date.

"November third," Sam breathed. Her eyes welled up in tears as she started to do the math. They had almost been here for three whole months. From the looks of her frail body, she had lost at least twenty pounds, and had not a single trace of fat left on her. This condition had made her prone to freezing at night, and her emaciated body could not properly heal itself on such a poor diet.

Jazz nodded sadly and put her hand on Sam's shoulder, but she shook it off.

"That's a long time," were the only words Sam could choke out without risking an emotional break down in front of this stranger. The weight of the news crushed her like a boulder, and she was dangerously close to regurgitating what little food she had consumed thus far.

"Were there...any other survivors?" Jazz asked in a barely-audible whisper.

Fighting back tears, Sam looked up at her. She had tears in her eyes as well.

"Besides me, there were…two," she said, choosing to leave the Paulina issue for later. Jazz's eyes flickered expectantly, but Sam could barely force herself to speak in her current emotional state.

Surely her parents thought she was dead. They had probably given up their hopes of finding her weeks ago and had moved onto grieving their 'little girl.' Perhaps they even had a funeral. The coffin would have been empty, as their daughter was supposedly forever lost at sea.

As much as her parents used to annoy her, the thought of how much grief her disappearance must have caused them made Sam's heart ache. Despite her earlier thoughts of wanting to be put out of her misery, Sam now realized how mistaken she had been. True, she wanted the agony of surviving on barely-edible leaves to go away, but she also _really_ wanted to go back to her family. Her parents. Her grandmother. Right now, they seemed so far away, but Sam knew they were still there, possibly clinging to the desperate possibility that their dead daughter was still in fact, alive somewhere.

"Mind if I ask two questions?" Sam said suddenly. Jazz looked mildly surprised by this and nodded.

"Okay. One, how did you get here? And two, how did you find me?"

Jazz sighed. "This thing we're sitting in right now is one of my parents' inventions. They're scientists, you see. It has the ability to propel itself through the air like a plane, as it's powered by jets in the rear. My parents recently added something called an Ecto Converter, which allows it to travel longer distances using less internal battery energy. I barely made it here, though. I had to stop aerial travel when one of the jets failed somewhere off the coast of Florida, and I am honestly amazed it was still able to make it here over the water on its electric battery. It needs to be charged before I can restart it, however. The battery died when I landed on this beach and it's all out of ecto energy."

"What's that?" Sam asked quickly. The term 'ecto' sounded incredibly familiar, but her mind was too fuzzy from her poor state of health to remember what it meant.

Jazz smiled slyly. "It's something that converts energy from a spectral figure into a renewable power source in lieu of using a battery."

"Spectral figure…You mean a ghost?"

"Yes, now contrary to popular belief, they actually exist-"

"I know," Sam said excitedly. "I met one here!"

"You did?" the older girl asked sharply. "What'd it look like?"

Sam frowned, remembering how her friends didn't seem to believe that Danny Phantom existed. Would Jazz think she was making it up as well?

"Well it wasn't a blob like those ghosts in the movies. It was a human. A guy. Probably around twenty or so...when he died, anyway. He had...white hair. And glowing green eyes," Sam closed her eyes, picturing the ghost boy's appearance. There was also his muscular body, his confident demeanor, and overabundance of bravery. But Sam didn't feel mentioning these would be necessary.

"Know anything else about him?" Jazz prodded her more urgently. "Like where he is?"

Sam stared at Jazz. She was chewing on her lip and refusing to make eye contact with Sam. She realized at once that Jazz was withholding something from her.

"You know who I'm talking about, don't you?"

Jazz's eyes returned to Sam's and she slowly nodded.

"Danny Phantom-" Sam continued, "-was his name. But he disappeared a while ago and I haven't seen him since. He has to be somewhere on this island, though. He was in no shape to try and escape. How do you know about him?"

"He's something of a hero where I come from," Jazz said softly.

"Amity Park?"

Jazz nodded. "He...left and I wanted to find out where he went. It took me a while, but I finally tracked his location to this island using my parents' technology. I didn't know that there would be others."

"Everyone else is dead," Sam said bitterly, trying to suppress the mental image of one hundred airplane passengers' bodies floating to the surface at the crash site. "Except the other two. And Phantom should still be around here somewhere."

Sam didn't notice the other girl sigh in relief. She was too busy eyeing the tiny refrigerator, where she knew more food was hidden from view.

"We need to conserve our resources," Jazz said at once, noticing Sam's gaze.

Sam growled irritably, but forced herself to look out the window instead. She was in no shape to venture back into the treed area, as she was currently keeling over from sheer exhaustion and could barely keep her eyes open as it were. But Danny and Tucker were still in there. They were her friends, with whom she had spent nearly three straight months with so far. She couldn't just leave them to the mercy of the island's hazards and monsters.

"I need to-"

"-stay in here, where it's warm," Jazz cut her off. "You can't go back out-"

"But-"

"Don't argue with me-"

"I-"

"I'm _serious_. You need to focus on maintaining what little stamina you have left so I can get you out of here..."

Sam knew she had almost slipped "alive" at the end of that statement, but instead let it just hung there in the air. The tears in her eyes had yet to go away; in fact, they were growing in density as she realized the utter hopelessness of the situation. They were stuck here with a flying boat thing that had no battery power left, a dwindling food supply, and worst of all, her friends were still possibly in trouble.

Just as it started raining, Sam noticed a faint glow emitting from a far-off cluster of palm trees. At first, she looked away, but immediately did a double take as the glow became brighter and more pronounced, even through the blanket of falling rain.

"What are you doing?" Jazz asked as Sam pressed her face up against the window. Her breath created a fog on the chilled glass, but she could still see well enough to know the glowing thing was coming towards them.

"There's something outside."

"What?" Jazz, too, pressed her face against the window. She gasped as the figure—which was in the shape of a human—came closer. Next to him was another person. They were limping, but not glowing.

"Wait, what are you-"

Sam didn't have enough time to react as Jazz spun on her heel and stumbled out of the vehicle. Oblivious to the rain, she sprinted outside, with nothing but a thin shirt and non-waterproof pants protecting her.

"Jazz-" Sam attempted to follow the girl, but paused when she heard her shriek, "_Danny!_"

Sam's jaw dropped as none other than Tucker and the elusive Phantom walked up to the site where Jazz's machine was parked. Things began moving too quickly for Sam to instantaneously comprehend: from Tucker and Phantom arriving to Jazz screeching Danny's name.

What stunned Sam the most was that Jazz then leaped into Phantom's arms, hugging him like one would hug a dear old friend or perhaps a sibling. She remained there for what seemed like forever, unable to release her arms from around his neck. Her head buried into his shoulder, which, even from a few feet away and with thunder brewing above them, Sam could tell she was crying.

Sick of feeling nothing but utter confusion and sick of standing here in the rain, Sam finally spoke up. "Uh, what's going on here?"

At this, Jazz and Phantom reluctantly broke apart and faced Sam. Brutally injured and nearly hypothermic, Tucker had since taken cover in the vehicle, leaving just the trio standing out in the relentless downpour.

Sam looked first at Jazz, who still had tears flowing down her cheeks as she rested her head on the ghost boy's shoulder, then to Danny Phantom, who was smiling like Sam had never seen him smile before.

"I see you've met my big sister."

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**Bro/sis bonding ftw. I guess my obsession with the Jazz/Danny sib-bond stems from the total lack of a bond between my own younger brother and myself. Hmmm. Either way, I'm clearly not alone in my sentiments :)**

**Prepare yourselves for the next chapter…it's one of my favorites in this entire story. Until then, reviews are appreciated :)**


	20. A Kiss on a Cliff

**Thank you for the comments on the previous chapter. This one is my personal favorite, one in which I had planned out before I even started writing this story four years ago. Enjoy~**

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There were at least a thousand questions on the tip of Sam's tongue.

Where had he been?

Why was he here now?

Did he realize how upset she had been at his abandonment?

Why had he only brought back Tucker?

But Sam could not bring herself to fire off all these questions; instead, all she could manage was a pathetic, "Huh?"

The ghost boy and the girl—his _sister?_—released and dragged a very shocked Sam into what she vaguely heard them refer to as the 'Specter Speeder.'

It was much warmer and drier inside, but this did little to comfort Sam. Her mind was swirling with confusing thoughts and persistent questions. Just when she thought the world was starting to make sense again, along came a girl who claimed to be the sister of the ghost whom Sam thought she'd never see again.

"Are _you_ a ghost?" Sam asked her warily as the redhead handed her a plastic cup full of hot tea.

"Not quite," Jazz smiled sadly. "Danny has some explaining to do, doesn't he?"

Sam nodded weakly. The growing migraine was not helping the situation, and before she could take in a single sip of tea, Sam's head nearly collapsed onto the table.

"I need some air," she mumbled, making her way out the door and back out into the rain. It was literally bone chilling, but it felt better than sitting in the cramped Specter Speeder.

"Are you okay?"

Sam jumped at the sound of the voice coming from behind her and glared at the intruder for scaring her.

Danny frowned. "Sorry, standard question."

He walked over to hold her steady while she tried to clear her vision. Nothing helped, however, as Sam was still horrifyingly dizzy and weak from head to toe.

"We can go back inside-"

"-No," Sam said firmly, closing her eyes and begging for them to stop distorting the world in front of her. "The rain feels good."

In reality, her body was numb by the now, but concentrating on how cold she was helped her to ignore the other aches and pains throughout her body. With Danny Phantom's help, she staggered over to a nearby tree and leaned against it for support.

"Why are you here?" Sam finally asked. Her eyes remained closed, though she knew the ghost boy was still nearby.

"I heard Tucker in trouble. I got him out of a tight spot in the area back there-" Danny gestured to the trees behind Sam, "-then we came out here looking for you. I had no idea we'd find the Specter Speeder and Jazz."

"Jazz," Sam interrupted him and opened her eyes to gaze into his before he could think of skipping over that 'minor' detail. "If she really is your...your _sister_, then-"

"How is she human and I'm not?" Danny guessed.

Sam nodded.

"It's...complicated."

"Everything is, apparently," she muttered.

"It doesn't have to be."

Sam watched him warily as he took a step or two towards her. Having lost track of time altogether, she couldn't say how long it had been since she had seen him. Had it been weeks? Days? Hours? Was he really just a hallucination? That would make Jazz and the Specter Speeder hallucinations as well, though.

"I think I'm losing my mind," Sam whispered as she slid down against the tree trunk before hitting the sand. She caressed her forehead in her hands, pleading for her sanity to return. There was no such thing as ghosts, right? Her mind must have been making up everything this whole time!

But as many times as she squeezed her eyes shut and pinched herself to reaffirm the fact that she was indeed awake, the ghost boy never left. In fact, he came closer and knelt down besides her, resting his hand comfortingly on her shoulder.

"You're not nuts," he said softly. Sam forced herself to look back up at him. His head was level with hers now, and his glowing green eyes were full of hurt and concern.

"Oh yeah?" she challenged him. "Prove it."

Danny sighed. His eyes flickered in the direction of the Specter Speeder, where Jazz and Tucker were waiting at the doorway for him to return with Sam. Instead, however, Danny waved them off and picked Sam up. He cradled her in his arms comfortingly, and this time, Sam willingly relaxed in his ghostly embrace. There was no use fighting anymore.

She was much lighter than Danny remembered, even with his ghost strength helping him carry her. Her breathing was shallow, but at least her shivering stopped after a few moments of cuddling her frail body up against his. Despite her fatigue, Sam could make out the faintest beating of a heart when she rested her head against his chest. It didn't make sense to Sam, but she was quickly learning that to survive out here, logic must be abandoned. After all, she had met a ghost boy, escaped ghostly bats by _flying_ away, and had experienced intangibility; needless to say, all of the laws of physics and other things she had believed to be true in this world had been crushed during her stay on this island. At this point, she was ready to believe anything was possible.

"Where are we going?" she mumbled as she noticed the boy's rough gait had abruptly smoothened out. She opened her eyes and peered down at the ground. They were at least ten feet in the air now, flying. Only when they reached a narrow cliff ledge did Danny Phantom touch down and let Sam get back onto her feet.

The rain had since let up, and in the east, the faintest flicker of orange was appearing through the stormy clouds. They had been awake all night.

"What are you doing?" Sam asked as the boy walked over to the edge of the cliff and sat down. His legs dangled precariously over the ledge, but for someone who apparently didn't abide by the laws of gravity, he barely noticed the three hundred foot drop beneath him. Sam peered over the edge; there were sharp rocks in a small cove of violent wave breaks below, but somehow she felt no fear of falling as she sat next to the ghost boy.

"We're finally getting out of here," he said in a far off voice. His eyes were trained on the upcoming sunrise, oblivious to Sam's gaze resting on him. The storm clouds were dissipating, coaxing the seagulls out into the open as they scavenged for breakfast above the crests of the dark waves.

Unable to come up with an immediate response, Sam merely closed her eyes and smiled as the cool breeze tickled her face. As miserable as this journey had been, she had to admit that, in a way, she was going to miss this place. The serenity. The gentle lapping of waves on the pristine white sandy beaches during in between storm cycles. The peace.

It had also been the most turbulent, confusing time of Sam's life, but she had also found peace within herself. Well, almost.

"I'm not leaving," she said quietly, keeping her eyes focused on the sun as it peeked through the gloomy clouds towards the east. She could feel Danny's piercing green eyes on her, but she couldn't bring herself to look at him as she was now attempting to fight off tears.

"I can't leave," she repeated. "Not without Danny...Fenton."

The ghost boy sighed. "Why?"

Through tear-blurred eyes, Sam whipped her head around to face him. "_Why?_ Are you serious? You think I'd just leave one of my friends here and go home, back to my everyday life, pretending he never existed?"

"I didn't say that."

This only made Sam angrier. "But you're implying it, aren't you? I know you think I'm crazy, but-"

"What's Danny Fenton to you?" he cut her off.

Sam's cheeks flushed a vibrant pink at his question. She was pretty sure they both knew the answer, but there was no way she could admit it aloud.

"A _friend_," she snapped. "And a fantastic one, at that. He never abandoned me on purpose like _you_ did."

"A friend?" he asked her, ignoring the latter half of her rant. "That's it, right?"

"No!"

Sam and Danny both jolted backwards, stunned by her outburst. Sam was in total shock, unable to believe what she had just revealed, albeit without meaning to. It wasn't her fault though; the ghost boy had backed her into a corner and not only was she an emotional wreck at the moment, she was also scared to death of the thought of going home without Danny Fenton.

Danny, the boy whom she had spent hours talking to on those late nights when neither of them could fall asleep due to the storm. Danny, whose goofy grin, mesmerizing blue eyes and messy black hair had attracted Sam like metal to a magnet. Danny, one of the only people in the world with whom Sam felt at ease, enough to divulge even her deepest, darkest secrets.

Whether it had been three months or three decades, the bond the two had formed during their time on this island was unbreakable; even if it meant giving up a ride back to civilization. She would never be at peace with herself, knowing that she had abandoned him. It would be worth the extra suffering and slow, certain death to stay on the island and know she was with him. No amount of coaxing and prodding from Phantom would be able to convince her otherwise.

"I..." Sam could barely find the words necessary to convey what she needed to say right now. She had never been one for openly revealing her emotions, especially to a ghost, who wasn't supposed to be able to feel human emotions in the first place.

"I..." tears streamed down her face as she tried with all her might to free the words from her lips. It was a simple three word phrase, yet her lips stubbornly refused to say it. It was an immensely frustrating experience, and the boy's gentle, patient expression was not helping.

Sam turned her head away from his and closed her eyes, focusing all of her energy on saying...

"I love him," she said at last. It was barely audible, but loud enough for Danny to hear.

Without warning, the ghost boy suddenly leaned in and kissed her.

At first, Sam yelped.

This was wrong.

How _dare_ this guy take advantage of her like that! He must have had some nerve to _kiss_ her just after admitting that she was in love with someone else!

She considered putting up a fight, but her body wouldn't listen to her mind's commands for her to break free. In fact, despite the war in her heart, Sam found herself letting go of her inner grudges. Any hint of struggling against his embrace—one white-gloved hand had found its way to her cheek, while the other rested on her back, pulling her closer—had vanished, and at last, Sam closed her eyes and completely gave in. Her mind went blank, and her arms unconsciously weaved their way around his neck in a tight embrace. Her warm breath met his cool, and for a moment, nothing else mattered in the world but this. Sam could not remember the last time she had experienced anything quite like this, and she found herself willing it to last forever. Danny Fenton still lingered at the back of her mind, but it wasn't enough to pull her away from the entrancing ghost boy. Spectrophilia be damned; sensual pleasure was hard to come by on a remote island, and after nearly three months of next to zero physical contact with anyone, certain cravings were demanding to be fulfilled, even if only through an impassioned kiss on the brink of a cliff.

Through his comforting embrace and soft lips against hers, Sam felt all traces of fear and hopelessness leaving her body and being replaced with hope and the tiniest hints of conflicted love. Just because it is possible to be in love with two people at once doesn't make it right, Sam knew.

Although she was startled by the flash of light that came from somewhere beyond her lidded eyes, Sam's eyes remained firmly shut, refusing to let this end. Reality would only ruin this perfect moment.

At long last, the boy's lips parted from hers. Eyes still closed, Sam leaned in for more, but he was already out of reach. One of his hands still rested on her lower back, however.

Her heart continued fluttering about like an anxiety-stricken chickadee, both deliriously happy through feelings Sam couldn't quite describe in words, yet angry that she had gone against her formerly ironclad stance on her love for another man. Why must every beautiful moment be ripped apart by emotional conflict?

Sighing reluctantly, Sam opened her eyes.

The sight that met her was so unbelievable that it took a solid three seconds to register what had happened.

Instead of meeting white hair and green eyes, she was staring at black and blue.

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**This story is almost over. It's been wonderful to write, and I cannot thank you all enough for your love and support. I never thought I'd write any sort of romantic fiction, but this story just blossomed, especially after the hiatus during which my writing (hopefully) improved. As always, comments/constructive criticism is greatly valued :)**


	21. Pushing Away

**Second to last chapter. I'd like to thank the following people for their comments on the previous chapter (I wish I had time to answer you all individually, but I figured a quicker update would be preferred): MintLat Fenton, KittEfox, ForeverTheWriter, anonymous, Lyssie212, crazywierdgirl16, nocluenat, nycorrall, xsugarxblossomx, omg, Tails2323 (thank you again for the lovely fanart), sapphireswimming, Turkeyhead987, Safire and Diamonds, seantrinana, Phantom Misfit, V.T-Vi Taunt Me, Jakkeirafan223, ChristinCC, darkangeloflove15, TexasDreamer01, and foofoocuddlypoo. **

**I can never thank you all enough for your support throughout this story, especially since I never thought I would be finishing any of my DP stories after I left the fandom in 2007. You are the reasons I came back and continue to update. **

**As always, enjoy~**

* * *

Her first instinct was to push him.

Unfortunately for Danny, she was so startled that she shoved with more force than what was necessary. It wouldn't have been so bad if they hadn't been on the edge of a cliff with a several hundred foot drop into the chilling ocean below.

Danny yelped as he fell over the side, having been caught completely off-guard by Sam's response.

Sam threw her entire body back onto the ledge and watched in horror as Danny continued freefalling down the face of the cliff, destined for the sharp outlying rocks poking out from the low tide below. Her mind wouldn't register exactly what just happened; all she knew was that she had inadvertently pushed her friend to his death and there was nothing she could do to save him now. Screaming would not save him, nor would it be any help if she jumped too. Then again, it would have made for an interesting Romeo-and-Juliet-esque ending for the two of them. Tragic romances were hardly the focus in Sam's mind at the moment, however.

Just as Danny's flailing body was beginning to near the deadly beach some two or three hundred feet down, something strange happened. For all of four seconds, Sam's heart froze as two blue rings suddenly appeared around his waist. They travelled up and down his body, until he was back in the black and white hazmat suit and his plain black hair had turned a glowing white.

Sam nearly let out a screech as she saw him now flying _upwards._ Her only option left appeared to be hiding behind a boulder, so she took it.

"Sam?"

Her heart pounded as she heard him land and his footsteps came closer.

Of course he survived.

Danny Fenton was also Danny _Phantom_.

Somehow, Sam's mind kept refusing to believe that that was even possible.

She needed time to sort these things out, but with Danny back from something that would have killed nearly any other person alive, quiet thinking time was going to be hard to come by.

"Sam," he said calmly, a few feet behind her. "I know you're behind the rock. I know...this is kind of crazy for you...but if you come out, I can explain."

"_Explain?_" she shouted, standing up to face him. She noticed that he was back in his human form. For some inexplicable reason, this really bothered her.

"Explain?" she repeated, walking closer to him, but still remaining at a safe distance for both of their sakes. She didn't want to accidentally throw him over the edge of a cliff again, after all. "You…you...I don't even know! This whole time I thought-"

"That I was really two different people. I know," he said remorsefully. "And I'm sorry. I didn't think it would-"

"Oh _yeah_ you didn't think!" Sam snapped at him. "We've been here for almost three months, did you know that? _Three months!_ And all that time, I thought Phantom was a jerk for deserting me and _you_-"

"Sam, I get it. I should have told you ages ago, okay? It's just..."

"Spit it out," Sam said, glowering at him. If Sam had felt conflicted before his revelation, that was nothing compared to how she was feeling _now_. Part of her desperately wanted to just calm down and talk it out, but the other part of her felt tremendously betrayed and wanted to really get across just how angry she was with him.

"Besides Jazz, you're the first person I've ever told," he said in a quiet voice. His gaze wouldn't meet hers, but she could still see the anguish behind those stunning blue eyes. She briefly wondered if he could achieve the same emotional response with the glowing green eyes.

"Told?" Sam laughed mirthlessly, though she could definitely sense that her fury was fading somewhat. "I get a kiss from Danny Phantom and when I open my eyes, I'm staring back at _you_. Not the best way to reveal an important secret, don't you think?"

"I know it was terrible, but it was the only way I could think of-"

"-oh really now? So you did the same thing when you told Jazz, your own _sister_?" Sam asked sarcastically.

Danny blushed. "Of course not. Jazz found out on her own."

Now that he was finally making eye contact with her, Sam took this opportunity to stare long and hard at him. Just when she thought she had reached the brink of her sanity with the acknowledgement that ghosts actually exist, now she was tipping over the edge towards the pit of lunacy with the realization that someone could be a ghost and a human at the same time. Not just this, but someone she _knew!_ Someone whom she had trusted...

"So," Sam said, taking a deep breath and closing her eyes so she could clear her mind of the hurricane of questions that was threatening to take over. "You're Danny..."

"Fenton. Phantom. One in the same," he finished for her.

"How?" she asked, unable to restrain her curiosity. She was still upset with him, but her anger had cooled somewhat, especially after the surge of guilt she felt from accidentally shoving him off the cliff. They silently stared at each other for a long time before Danny finally spoke.

"An accident," he smiled softly. "Remember when I told you my parents are scientists?"

"And they study ectoranium?"

"Yes," Danny said, pleased that she had remembered the correct way of pronouncing the ghost element's name. "Well, a few years ago—this was before I believed that ghosts existed—they were trying to build this thing called a Ghost Portal. It didn't work at first, but Tucker really wanted to check it out."

"Why?"

Danny laughed. "He's the biggest techno-geek you'll ever meet. These past few months have been torture for him, you know."

Sam almost laughed at the thought of Tucker obsessing over various gadgets and gizmos, but then she remembered that she was supposed to still be mad at Danny and kept a neutral expression instead.

"So we went into the lab and it was nothing special. Just a giant hole in my basement, really. Just when I was ready to leave, Tucker had this 'great idea' and said I should check out the inside."

"And a ghost attacked you in there?"

Danny chuckled. "Not quite. My dad has a thing for putting important items in the wrong places...such as the on and off buttons. Guess where he put it for the portal?"

"Inside?" Sam guessed.

Danny nodded. "I didn't realize it until after I had pushed it. Little did I know, I was in for the biggest shock of my life."

"Literally or metaphorically?"

"Both. The accident gave me ghost powers, but since most people in my hometown hated ghosts at the time, I figured it would be better to have an alias so Danny _Fenton_ could have a life outside of ghost hunting. Hence the two names."

"So," Sam said slowly, trying to process the influx of new information. It certainly made sense, once Danny explained it to her, but her mind was still numb from the hundreds of questions still floating around inside. "Now you're Fenton _and_ Phantom. And only Tucker and Jazz know your secret?"

"And you," Danny added, smiling.

"This is a lot to take in," Sam groaned as she slumped down against the rock. Her head ached from information overload, along with the fact that she had to come to terms with this new reality being presented to her. Ghosts! Half ghosts! What else could possibly exist that she hadn't believed was real before?

"So what will become of _Danny_ when he gets off this island?" Sam inquired after another long, awkward period of silence between them.

He shrugged. "I'll probably go back to the usual. Just trying not to fail out of college while protecting the town from ghosts. What are you going to do?"

Sam smiled vaguely. "Same. Minus the ghost fighting part. Hopefully keep in touch with you and Tucker for a little while, at least."

"Oh," Danny's face fell. He hadn't thought about that. The idea of losing Sam, just after he revealed his biggest secret to her...was unimaginable. They had grown incredibly close over the span of the last couple of months, even with the bumps in the road, which he readily took the blame for, as he never divulged his secret until now. He cared for her and quite possibly even _loved_ her; something he had never felt for another girl in his life.

"Is this goodbye then?" he asked in a hollow voice.

"Not until we get back to the mainland," Sam said quietly. "Depending on how fast your 'Specter Speeder' thing travels, that could mean we still have several hours."

"And if I don't want to say goodbye...?"

"Tough luck," Sam said bitterly, turning away from him as tears began welling up in her eyes. "Did you really think this could last forever? We were supposed to die out here. That, or be rescued and go back to our normal lives and try to forget this ever happened."

Danny's whole body trembled as he thought back to the first night of the crash. He could _never _forget that. The awful choices he had to make about who to save and who to abandon. There was also the night he couldn't save Paulina as she drowned at sea. He had still managed to save Sam's life, but that was still only a 50% success rate.

"Normal life" be damned. Those memories would never leave him.

After several seconds of watching Danny mentally torment himself, Sam nodded towards the beach, where the tiny figures of Jazz and Tucker were trying to push the Specter Speeder up the beach to avoid the high tide.

"Let's get back to the beach."

Try as she might to forget the hurt expression she had seen on his face at that very moment, the image continued to haunt Sam for the entire duration of their trek back to Tucker and Jazz. She was trying to be realistic, that's all. They lived two very different lives and most likely would never have met if they hadn't been some of the only survivors of the same devastating plane crash. Now that they were going home, they needed to get their heads out of the clouds and resume their lives back in civilization. There would be an adjusting period, sure, but they would learn to readapt to their surroundings and their three month stint on an abandoned island somewhere near Bermuda would hopefully become nothing but a distant memory.

"Ready to go?" Jazz asked in a voice too cheerful for either of their moods once they returned to the beach.

Sam watched with mild interest as Danny rubbed his two hands together then briefly placed them on a compartment labelled "Ecto Converter." It was a visibly painful experience, but he did an excellent job of trying to hide it. Only Sam seemed to notice.

At once, the Speeder roared to life, ready for another flight thanks to its new energy supply.

Tucker and Jazz got inside immediately, desperate to get off this island as soon as possible. Sam lingered in the doorway as she observed Danny standing a few feet in front of her with his back facing her, getting one last glimpse at the island. At that moment, a sudden urge to release all of the tears she had been harboring for weeks overwhelmed Sam. She wasn't sure if it was from a hormonal imbalance due to lack of proper nutrition, the nervous joy she felt at the prospect of going home, or out of sorrow for how much she was going to miss Danny.

The only way she had ever dealt with sadness was suppressing it or pushing it away. That's what she had begun to do: push Danny away. Yet, with him so near, it was quite a challenge to fully forget him.

"Danny," she called to him in a strangled voice. "We're leaving."

"Okay."

He turned around and, noticing that Sam was still watching him, blushed and made a quick swipe at his cheek.

But Sam had seen the lone tear, anyway.

* * *

**If there are any artists out there who read this story, I'll love you forever if you could create a fanart piece of Danny falling off of the cliff and Sam sitting at the top going "Oh sh*t." I was literally lol'ing while writing that scene, but my stick person drawing skills aren't up to the task of recreating it in visual format (I'm a writer for a reason).**

**Next chapter is another one of my favorites. I don't do this for any of my other stories currently, but I _will_ be responding to reviews of this chapter at the end of the next one. ****Any last thoughts or constructive criticism before the final chapter will be greatly appreciated :)**


	22. Funny Thing About Boomerangs

***cries* This is it…responses to reviews at the end. Enjoy~**

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It had been three weeks since the two missing college students returned to Amity Park, surprisingly safe and sound. In its exuberance, the community had thrown a massive party for the boys, complete with a parade, banquet hosted by the mayor, and fireworks at the end of day's celebrations.

"We never gave up on you!" teenaged girls had shouted at Danny and Tucker as they observed the festivities with their families from the special viewing box located on the roof of town hall. The expression of the town's adoration for the lost boys had only caused more outbreaks of tears from the Foleys and Fentons, who had started losing hope going into the third month. They had known about the crash all along, courtesy of a global news service, but when it was reported that there were no survivors, they retained their last shreds of hope that somehow, their beloved children were still alive. While the parents finally moved past the stage of denial and onto the grieving process after several weeks of futile waiting, Jazz had sought out a solution to prove them wrong. She did have the added advantage of knowing about the existence of Danny's ghost powers, but as a condolence to the Foley family—just in case their boy didn't make it—Jazz had said nothing and proceeded forward with her secret mission.

On the third month anniversary of the crash, the Specter Speeder reached the mainland again, garnering attention from news sources all over the world. How was it that, in a crash reported to have had no survivors, three people actually survived?

The frenzy of journalists and television crews awaiting them at the airport was overwhelming, particularly for Danny, Tucker and Sam. Three long months of near-isolation from the rest of the world had prompted a major culture shock once they were back home. They weren't used to getting badgered with incessant questions, microphones poking in their faces and giant cameras capturing every moment of their teary reunion with their families. It got so ridiculous at one point that the police had to step in and create a barricade just so the Fentons, Foleys, and Mansons could hug their kids without half a dozen reporters bumping into them.

"Ready to go, sweetie?" Maddie had asked once their plane back to Amity Park was readying to board.

For the longest, most painful ten seconds of his life, Danny stared over his mom's shoulder at Sam. She stared back, unsmiling and quite honestly, looking ready to cry for once. They had exchanged phone numbers, sure, but she lived across the country from him and was due to resume her studies after a few weeks of settling back in at home. Danny was hoping to take this semester off to catch up with the happenings in the Ghost Zone and focus on gaining back his strength. Tucker, on the other hand, proclaimed that he was going to hole up in his room for the next month and reassure his technological children that he was still alive. Danny knew he was joking, but the depressive atmosphere surrounding their departure made it hard to laugh.

"Guess this is goodbye?" Danny asked, walking over to Sam once his family and the Foleys had boarded the plane.

Biting her tongue to fight back tears, Sam nodded. "Thanks…for saving me."

"It's what I do," Danny said quietly. Just as he leaned in to give her one last kiss—or at least a hug—the flight attendants began shutting off the gate entrance that led to the plane.

"Oh crap," Danny looked around to see if anyone besides Sam was watching him and turned intangible. "Goodbye Miss Manson," he said before running through the gate and into the plane, where his still-tearful family awaited him.

"Goodbye," Sam whispered as she watched him disappear through the solid doors. "Ghost boy."

**oOoOoOo**

_Staying on that island would have been better than this, _Danny thought as he tried to keep his head facing the board in his statistics class. He hated math more than anything in the world, yet this had been the three hour, Monday morning class he was assigned after re-registering for spring semester. He didn't even have the added benefit of Tucker to keep him awake—distracted, but _awake_—so he had since resorted to attempting duplication while in his human form. Needless to say, two hours, thirty-three minutes and forty-one seconds into the class—not that he was counting or anything—it wasn't working too well. At one point, he almost transformed by accident. He was content with three people knowing his secret, but the two hundred others sitting in on this math lecture? Not so much.

Tired of failed practicing and still trying not to fall asleep, Danny turned to doodling on his non-existent math notes. Even two and a half months later, he couldn't banish the memories of his tenure in Bermuda from his mind. It wasn't even the strangeness of the ghosts he had been forced to fight off, either—though those bats still gave him nightmares occasionally; instead, there was one special girl he couldn't get out of his mind. She visited him in dreams, her drowning figure haunted his nightmares, and in reality, everything seemed to link to her. In the hallways, a single poster for the uni's goth poetry meeting caught his attention even with dozens of other, flashier posters hanging around it. On the cafeteria menu, he was suddenly noticing the Ultra-Recyclo vegetarian meal options that he never bothered to read before. A stroll past the women's soccer field had him wishing—even if for just a brief second—that he would somehow see her standing in the mix of blondes and brunettes. But alas, it was a fleeting fantasy and she never appeared.

Jazz, who was now working on her Master's degree in psychiatry at Yale, had tried convincing him to jump back into the dating pool. Focusing on a dead relationship would only further the emotional damage he had sustained, after all, and his attachment to a girl he wasn't likely to see for a very long time, if ever, was borderline obsessive.

"I know it's upsetting, Danny, but it's not healthy for you," Jazz admonished him over the phone after he called her one evening, seeking advice. Deep down, he knew she was right, but he couldn't forget Sam. Paradoxical as it may seem, she was his light in the darkness for those three months of isolation, and she had held a special place in his heart since the day he first spied on her through the tree groves at the hotel. He would never admit this to anyone, of course, but as cheesy as it sounded, it was true.

There were plenty of hot, intelligent, and athletic girls on this campus, but even with the confidence of a superhero, he didn't feel comfortable going up and asking any of them out. Not that he wanted to, anyway. The adjustment period had been difficult for him, especially with the higher level of media attention than he was used to from his ghost fighting exploits before his disappearance. Now everyone knew about poor Danny Fenton's struggle for survival in the face of starvation and imminent death, and there was also this massive spike in curiosity as to where Danny _Phantom_ had been all this time. Luckily for Danny, the ability for others to put two and two together still didn't function yet.

Even if they did, nothing could really compare with Sam's reaction. That memory never failed to bring a smile to his face, even though Sam had been furious at the time.

As soon as his horrifically boring stats class was over, Danny immediately had to get across campus to his communications class. That was another awkward class, as a certain former teacher of his was also taking it as credit for his second Master's degree. Not that Danny had ever minded Mr. Lancer; he just couldn't bring himself to call him by his first name and always ended up calling him "Lancer" during group projects. It was the strangest feeling to have your old high school teacher as your fellow classmate, but Lancer was surprisingly helpful when he wasn't in a position to be handing out F's or detentions.

With just a ten minute gap between classes, Danny usually took the aerial route, but today he felt like walking. January was always one of the coldest months for Amity Park, but even though his ghost form would have handled the chill with ease, he preferred trudging through the snow with the help of invisible legs keeping his pants ice-free.

Without warning, his ghost sense suddenly went off. After two months of recuperation, he was back to his former physique, so at least ghost fighting was going well for him. The stupid Box Ghost still followed him around and Technus loved haunting the campus computers, but today it was Bertrand.

Sighing, Danny literally walked over to a hidden area and transformed. While the ghost bumbled on about something having to do with world domination or the usual wishlist of every other ghost, Danny yawned. At least there didn't seem to be anyone that was much of a threat anymore, but that made ghost fighting seem more like a chore than hero's work. People were still terrified of them, of course, but none of the ghosts ever posed a significant threat to the town's safety.

Not paying attention to the dwarfish ghost led to a few well-aimed ecto-blasts that were enough to physically hurt Danny for a few seconds, but a quick retrieval of the Fenton thermos prevented anymore from flying his way.

He cringed as the clock tower on the south end of the campus struck four o'clock; he was already ten minutes late for his next class.

Before he made it back down to the ground, however, something struck him in the back of the head. The words "déjà vu" briefly passed through his mind, but he couldn't determine why. The clanging of metal on the ground brought him back to his senses. Intrigued, he came back to Earth and searched for the thing that had hit him. He had only been one hundred or so feet up in the air, but by the time he made it back to the ground, the offending object was nowhere to be seen.

"Funny thing about boomerangs," said a familiar voice from behind him. "Is that they always seem to return."

Danny's heart nearly stopped at the sound of her voice. Still in ghost mode, he turned around to see none other than Sam, dressed in a thick black jacket with a matching hat. In her hands was the Booooomerang.

"Are you a hallucination?" he asked, rubbing the back of his head where the boomerang had struck him.

"I suppose I could be," she smiled as she walked towards him and handed him the boomerang. "You forgot this when we left. I thought you might want it back."

Unable to speak, Danny brushed the boomerang aside and pulled her into his arms. Indifferent to the stares of a nearby group of freshmen, she wrapped hers tightly around his waist and buried her face into his shoulder. It had only been two months since they last saw each other, but somehow, two months felt like two decades. Time was no object as they remained here for quite a while, wanting to make the most of something they never thought would happen again.

"Why are you here?" Danny whispered into her ear.

Sam finally released and stared into his unhuman green eyes with tears in her own. "Couldn't stay away. And I figured I could use a change of scenery. I like what I see," she added, not taking her eyes off of him.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, the funny thing about scholarships is that they don't renew if the college thinks you're dead," Sam said with a sly grin. "So I transferred."

Realization finally dawned on his face. "So, you're…"

"Going here now. I heard all about this wonderful place from a guy named Danny Fenton. Perhaps you've heard of him?"

Danny grinned. "Oh, more or less. He doesn't like attention, but if we go someplace more private, I'm sure we'd be able to find him. Wanna go for a ride?"

"Of course."

By now, a crowd of no less than a dozen students were gawking at the scene of a human girl and town hero, Danny Phantom having a perfectly normal conversation. Taking Sam's hand, Danny soared upwards, as far away as he could get from the mass of nosy onlookers. It was quite cold up here, so he didn't want to remain in the air for long. Spotting the clock tower in the distance, he flew them to the observation balcony that was closed during wintertime and thus guaranteed to be free from prying eyes. Upon touchdown, Danny changed back into his human self.

"Oh look, I found him," he joked.

"Stop speaking in third person, you dork," Sam smiled and pulled him in for a kiss.

Danny felt like he was in a dream. This moment, kissing the love of his life from the top of an old clock tower with snow sprinkling all around them, was almost too romantic to be _real_. But there was not a doubt in his mind that the soft lips meeting his were real, as were the remarkably warm hands that were pulling him closer to her. Best of all, it was completely quiet up here, with no reporters or annoying peers to bother them.

"Are you going to push me again?" Danny murmured once they retreated. They were, in fact, rather close to the edge of the balcony, which at least had the protection of guardrails just in case Sam tried it.

"No, I think I'd rather keep you with me from now on," Sam laughed.

"Are you sure?"

"Absolutely."

* * *

***sigh* I first published this on October 12, 2007. While the length is nowhere _near_ the length of some other DP fics on this site, I still view this as a personal achievement because I don't normally finish fanfic stories (my Avatar and Harry Potter readers can attest to this .) **

**So, thank you for coming along for the ride, and I still have two other stories to wrap up (and two I just started), so there will be plenty more of dpluver's writing for a while.**

**So, responses:**

**Phantom Misfit- **I'd love to see it if you ever post it online! With permission, I link all fanart/fanfics inspired by my stories in my profile :)

**crazywierdgirl16-** This story was meant to focus solely on Danny and Sam, but I suppose a spinoff oneshot about Tucker and Jazz might be a possibility...

**K9L712- **Glad you enjoyed it! I'm super busy too, so no worries. I just like constructive criticism because authoring original fiction is my dream career and I'm on this site to improve, is all.

**seantriana- **Hahaha, let me know if you post it! I'd love to see it (if Cujo hasn't eaten your art supplies already D:)

**ChristinCC- **That'd be awesome to see. I'm sure everyone who reads this can draw better than me, so I'm jealous of all of you :)

**2Bell26- **I'm guess you got the ending you were hoping for? ;)

**MintLat Fenton- **Hehe that was my fave part too, so I'm glad others found it funny.

**nycorrall- **Here ya go ;)

**-** Thanks! I guess it was all or nothing when it came to writing skills versus art skills. I think I'll stick with written expression ;)

**Turkeyhead987-** Go for it (if you have time between writing your lovely fanfics, that is!).

**Lyssie212- **Ooooohhh NaNoWriMo? I should have been doing that, but decided to go with fanfiction instead, haha. Hope your story turned out well! :)

**Pii-** Glad you like it! Sorry it's over as soon as you began reading it, haha :)

**CamiPhantom-** That was just a weird mental image I got before planning out the chapter outline and decided to run with it (too much fun not to use it!)

**MeredithsPhantom-** Thanks! I'm already hard at work on several other ficlets in what little free time I have these days, so you haven't seen the last of me! (but no, I won't see you at dinner /lameDPjoke).

**BlondieMarie24-** Woah, thank you! That means a lot :)

**Tails2323- **You already know I loved what you did with "Going Home." I'd love to see what you can do with the cliff scene xD

**ForeverHalfa-** Thanks! Hopefully the ending wasn't too shabby :)

**SpeakWithAction-** Ohh! I can haz art? That'd be sweet.

**nocluenat-** Art major? That's awesome! But I understand the stress of college, so no worries haha.

**Hailee- **Sorry this took so long! Now that my lengthier stories are coming to an end, I'm being invaded by plot bunnies! ;)

**sapphireswimming-** I think I already responded via PM, so: 3

**Skye of the Night- **I'd love to see what you have up your sleeve! Go for it! :)

**Well, thank you again to everyone who read/reviewed/lurked. I don't have any DxS-centric stories in my queue at the moment, so I will definitely miss this. **


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